Existing comment:
Ute Canyon:
You are standing near the head of the longest canyon in the park (4 miles). Not far from here, the canyon narrows into a ravine. Just above that is little more than a ditch or gully beside the road. Another few thousand years of periodic rainstorms will turn the ditch into a chasm as was as the one in front of you.
Evolution of Ute Canyon: Water and wind continually carve and sculpt the sandstone. Moisture slowly dissolves the "cement" that holds the sand grains together. Streams carry the eroded particles from the canyon out to the Colorado River. |