Tour of the Tilted Rocks Stop #4

The monuments titled rock scenery is a result of geologic uplift.

NPS Photo/Conrad Provan

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Scenic View/Photo Spot

The tilt and colors of the rocks are the most noticeable features of the landscape. Each rock layer was formed in a certain environment at a specific time. Geologists call those discrete layers formations. The formation on either side of the road here formed in streams and rivers during the late Triassic Period, resulting in a coarse-grained, gritty yellow and tan sandstone. Utah is famous for red rocks which contain oxidized iron minerals that were exposed to air. Often nearby there are green rocks that are reduced iron minerals which altered in water. The yellow colors in the sandstone right here are also result from a mixture of materials, including iron oxides, sulfides, and silicates, called limonite.