Mount Rose Geologic Ridges

The North Shore landscape depends on its geology history.

NPS Photo / GM Spoto

Quick Facts

Location:

Mount Rose Trail

Amenities

2 listed

Historical/Interpretive Information/Exhibits, Scenic View/Photo Spot

Hard Rock Ridges

You are standing on a ridge of hard, igneous rock with a 10-foot (3-m) crust of "baked" rock on top. How was this formed? Roughly 1.1 billion years ago, hot volcanic magma pushed up into cracks and faults in the existing rock bed, know as the Rove Formation, made of silt and a coarse rock called graywacke. The heat radiating from the magma baked the nearby rocks.