Harpers Corner Trail Stop 9

Majority of the Uintah Mountains are made up of quartzite.

NPS Photo/Conrad Provan

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Scenic View/Photo Spot

The reddish rocks alongside the trail are made of a hard sandstone called quartzite, which also appears at the very bottom of Whirlpool Canyon. Did they roll up here from down there? Not likely, but their rounded shape does suggest that they rolled a long way from somewhere. The same quartzite forms much of the Uinta Mountains west of here, so these rocks may have been washed down from the mountains long before the Green River had carved Whirlpool Canyon. Now, stranded far from their source; they add another element of mystery to a landscape which has puzzled geologists since Powell’s time.