• View from the Canyon Rim Trail. Photo by Jeff Kochevar

    Colorado

    National Monument Colorado

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  • Rim Rock Drive is OPEN - Visitor Center is OPEN 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

    Rim Rock Drive is OPEN Be on the lookout for Desert Bighorn Sheep along Rim Rock Drive. There also may be minor traffic delays near the East Entrance over the coming weeks. Watch for construction flaggers on the roadway.

Shrubs

Big Sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata)
Other names: common sagebrush, blue sagebrush, black sagebrush, mountain sagebrush

Cliffrose (Cowania mexicana)
Other names: quininebush

Fendlerbush (Fendlera rupicola)
Other names: cliff fendlerbush, false mockorange

Four-wing saltbush (Atriplex canescens)

Greasewood (Sarcobatus vermiculatus)

Manzanita (Arctostaphylos patula)

Other names: Greenleaf manzanita

Mormon Tea (Ephedra viridis)

Other names: Joint-fir, Brigham tea

Mountain Mahogany (Cercocarpus sp.)

Rabbitbrush (Chrysothamnus sp.)

Skunkbush (Rhus aromatic ssp. trilobata)

Other names: skunkbush sumac, lemonbush, threeleaf sumac

Snakeweed (Gutierrezia sarothrae)

Other names: broom snakeweed

Utah Serviceberry (Amelauchier utahensis)

Did You Know?

Independence Monument

Independence Monument is all that remains of a continuous ridge that once formed a wall between Monument and Wedding Canyons.  A cap of durable Kayenta rock has protected this picturesque 450 feet (137 meters) high monolith from the relentless erosion that carried away the surrounding rock.