Sound of Silence Trail Stop 9

The rocks of the Moenkopi are remnants of a shallow sea.

NPS Photo/Conrad Provan

Quick Facts

Amenities

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Scenic View/Photo Spot

Hidden within these hills are clues of their origin. Look for ripple marks on some of the rocks, and imagine the lapping sound of waves, a message from the past. You are now walking through the remains of a shallow, watery environment from 250 million years ago called the Moenkopi Formation. Muds and sands were deposited in thin beds on the edges and bottoms of watery areas. Reptiles and amphibians moved stealthily along shorelines and through these shallow waters, in a time before the dinosaurs. Invertebrates burrowed in the muds of the floodplains, and ammonites (a type of mollusk) swam in the seaways. Although the weathered soils of the Moenkopi Formation may look inhospitable, flowering plants like Desert Paintbrush, Pale Evening Primrose and the dramatic Prince’s Plume grow here. What are these plants telling us? These soils are high in selenium, which the Prince’s Plume utilizes so that it is unpalatable and even toxic if consumed.