Kanab to HW-160 past Page, Arizona
0.0 Junction of U.S. Highway 89 with Alternate U.S. Highway 89 in Southeastern Kanab. U.S. Highway 89 leads east toward Page. Alternate U.S. Highway 89 leads south to the north rim of Grand Canyon, and rejoins U.S. Highway 89 at Bitter Springs, Arizona, south of Page. U.S. Highway 89 east of town is on the Chinle Formation, with Moenave Sandstone forming the cap of the Vermillion Cliffs to the north (fig. 9.1, 9.2).
Figure 9.2. View northward from Mile 1.0 of Moenave Formation in the cliffs at the east end of Kanab- Prominent sandstone ledges are in the Springdale Member and the reddish banded slope zone below is in the Whitmore Point Member of the formation
1.5 Excellent exposures of the shaly bentonitic lower part of the Chinle Formation on either side and in road cuts near the bend in the highway. View to the south shows the Shinarump Sandstone, forming a prominent cuesta, dipping to the north beneath the subsequent valley formed in Chinle beds. Moenkopi beds beneath the Shinarump ledge forms the Chocolate Cliffs. Kaibab Limestone forms the prominent, almost level skyline to the southeast, south, and southwest on the Kaibab Plateau.
9.5 Side road junction of Utah State Highway 136 up Johnson Canyon to the north. Several movies were made here in the red rocks region in the forties and fifties, when Kodachrome was just coming into it's own. Upper Chinle beds are exposed below Moenave Sandstone on either side of the canyon mouth (fig. 9.3). To the south, the light colored cuesta is capped by Shinarump Conglomerate above the chocolate brown Moenkopi Formation. The highway continues to the east in the middle part of the Chinle Formation.
Figure 9.3. View northward of The Grand Staircase from east of Kanab looking northward up Johnson Canyon to the Bryce Canyon National Park area on the skyline. The lowest cuesta escarpment is the Vermillion Cliffs- The next prominent escarpment is the White Cliffs, with the Pink Cliffs capping the skyline in the far distance. Only the backslope of the Chocolate Cliffs cuesta on Moenkopi and Shinarump rocks is exposed in the lower part of the photograph. Moenave Formation holds up the Vermillion Cliffs, Navajo Sandstone the White Cliffs and the Cedar Breaks or Wasatch Formation holds up the Pink Cliffs. (Photo by W.K. Hamblin)
15.0 Massive Moenave Sandstone continues to form the Vermillion Cliffs to the north and is capped with a thin tongue of white Navajo Sandstone (fig. 9.4). White exposures of sandstone in the junipers to the south are of the upper part of the Shinarump Conglomerate.
16.0 Shinarump Conglomerate (fig. 9.5) is exposed in road cuts on the southwest of the Paunsaugunt Fault which the road crosses here. East of the fault Shinarump Conglomerate caps a low cuesta to the north of the highway above light colored, striped beds of the gypsiferous upper Moenkopi Formation (fig. 9.6). To the southeast, the broad valley of Petrified Hollow is carved on Moenkopi beds with Kaibab Limestone exposed beyond where it is sharply flexed up along the West Kaibab Monocline. The road eastward is in Moenkopi Formation.
Figure 9.5. Shinarump Sandstone in a small gorge south of the highway at Mile 16.0, in the downdropped block west of the Paunsagunt Fault. Kaibab Limestone is exposed on the East Kaibab Plateau on the skyline in the background.
Figure 9.6. View northward of the Grand Staircase from approximately Mile 15.0 showing minor offsets in the Moenave Formation along the small gully where the Paunsagunt Fault cuts the Vermillion Cliffs. Banded Moenkopi Formation capped by Shinarump Sandstone, is exposed in the lower right of the photograph. The White Cliffs of Navajo Sandstone rise above the Vermillion Cliffs and the shelf carved on Kayenta Formation. The Paunsagunt Plateau in the background is capped by the Pink Cliffs, the erosional edges of the Cedar Breaks or Wasatch Formation.
19.5 Ripple marked platy sandstone and red gypsiferous mudstone of the Moenkopi Formation exposed in low bluffs both north and south of the road. The lighter more tan units are probably tidal flat-dominated deposits and are slightly more gypsiferous than adjacent beds.
24.8 Crest of small hill. Lower Moenkopi beds capped by greenish platy sandstone exposed to the north. The juniper and pinion-covered areas to the south are on Kaibab Limestone. Contact of the Moenkopi and Kaibab Formations is a short distance south of the road.
27.6 Cross Buckskin Gulch. Lower Moenkopi beds are exposed in road cuts to the east, but Kaibab Limestone is well exposed in cliffs in the canyon to the south.
32.3 The road continues in the lower part of the Moenkopi Formation. Juniper covered hills 1,000 yards to the south are on upper beds of Kaibab Limestone. To the north, pinnacles of white, lower Navajo Sandstone rise above the prominent Vermillion Cliffs of the Moenave Formation. The slope zone between here and base of the cliffs is on the Chinle Formation and the upper part of the Moenkopi Formation.
34.0 Side Road to Old Paris Town site (fig. 9.7). A primitive road leads approximately 4 miles to the Paris town site through spectacularly colored Triassic rocks. East of here upper Kaibab Limestone is exposed on the crest of the East Kaibab Monocline where the beds are almost flat. A short distance farther east, however, Kaibab rocks bend down abruptly on the monocline. It is the monocline flexure, in part, which has helped produce the striking scenery in the vicinity of Paris, where thick, brightly colored Moenkopi and Chinle beds are spectacularly exposed.
Figure 9.7. Paria town site along the Paria River as seen from along the side road which leads north from Mile 34.0. Shinarump Sandstone forms the resistant unit in the foreground and Chinle beds form the striped exposures in the lower part of the Paria Canyon wall. The town site is near the cluster of trees along the river in the center of the photograph. Wingate and Moenave Formations cap the cuesta on the skyline.
35.2 Near the top of Kaibab Limestone at the major bend in the highway built on the east limb of the monocline (fig. 9.8). Moenkopi beds show well on the west flank of the gully, but Chinle rocks are almost totally buried by slumped debris from the overlying Moenave Formation and by recent sand dunes. The road drops southward into a subsequent valley carved in Moenkopi and Chinle beds, above and east of the Kiabab Limestone exposures along the monocline.
Figure 9.8.Simply dipping upper beds of the Kaibab Limestone on the east side of the East Kaibab Monocline at Mile 35.2. The road in the foreground is on basal beds at the Moenkopi Formation in a strike valley parallel to the monocline.
39.2 The road bends away from the monocline and cuts through The Reef on the east side of the valley and enters double road cuts through Moenave beds which are reddish sandstone units with interbedded mudstone, and then through Kayenta and Navajo beds in cuts ahead.
40.4 Top of the Navajo Sandstone. View toward the north at the east end of the cut is of spectacularly banded Carmel and Entrada Formations on the east flank of the East Kaibab Monocline and are capped by a thin Morrison Formation and Dakota Sandstone (fig. 9.9). The skyline to the northeast is of the Kaiparowits Plateau with Straight Cliffs and Wahweap coal-bearing formations high on the bluff.
Figure 9.9. View northward along the East Kaibab Monocline from Mile 40-4. Uppermost beds of the Navajo Sandstone are the light-colored rocks at the extreme left, Banded valley-forming rocks are in the Carmel Formation and are overlain by ledge-forming members of the Entrada Formation. The tableland at the extreme right is capped by Morrison beds.
42.1 Massive cross-bedded white Gunsight Butte Member of the Entrada Sandstone (fig. 9.4) forms bold exposures in hills to the south.
43.7 Cross the Paria River , here dry some of the time. East of the crossing is the junction with the road south to Paria Canyon primitive area. Entrada rocks show well in ledges to the north (figs. 9.10, 9.11), To the south, massive white Navajo Sandstone forms cliffs down Paria Canyon.
Figure 9.10. View northward from east of the Paria River at approximately Mile 44.0 of the ledge forming Entrada Formation. The lower banded unit is the Cannonville Member and the upper white sandstone cliff-former is the Escalante Member of the formation.
Figure 9. 11.Entrada Formation exposed northward from approximately Mile 46. The well-bedded Cannonville Member of the formation, in the fore. ground, is overlain by the massive cross-bedded sandstone of the Escalante Member
46.0 Major bend in the highway. Broad fluvial channel fill is well exposed in the middle of the candy-striped Cannonville Member to the cast. The road swings back northeastward to climb up over the white sandstone of the Escalante Member within the Entrada Formation.
47.5 Drainage divide. To the north and east stretches the Cretaceous coal-bearing Wahweap-Straight Cliffs Formations in the Kaiparowits Plateau (fig. 9.13). These coalbearing Cretaceous Formations rise in steps above the silvery gray slope carved on the Mancos or Tropic Shale which forms the prominent valleys at the cliff base (fig. 9.12).
Figure 9.12. View northward across Wahweap Canyon to Cretaceous rocks exposed along the south side of the Kaiparowits Plateau. Mancos Shale forms the flat valley bottom and the gray shale slopes below cliffs of the Straight Cliffs Formation, the coal-bearing unit in the Cretaceous section. Upper beds of Entrada Sandstone and a thin Dakota Formation are exposed in the foreground and along the rim of the shallow inner gorge of Wahweap Canyon.
50.1 Road cuts through the upper part of the massive white Escalante Sandstone. Striped Carmel beds are exposed to the south. To the north, a simple anticline is expressed at the north end of the Echo Monocline by dips and rise and fall of the massive white Escalante Member of the Entrada Formation below the more resistant Dakota Sandstone and. slopes of Mancos Shale.
53.9 Massive white sandstone of the Escalante Member exposed to the north in the core of the anticline.
55.8 Outliers of somewhat cavernous appearing, cross-bedded Entrada Sandstone on the south side of the road. Silvery gray Mancos Shale forms the prominent slope zone beneath the striped coal-bearing Cretaceous units to the north and northeast, across Wahweap Canyon. From here, the road dips down the east flank of a small anticline on the Echo Monocline essentially on the top of the Entrada Formation.
57.8 Side Road. Entrance to Glen Canyon City on the north. Beyond the development Dakota Formation is well exposed in the canyon to the north, beneath the silvery striped Mancos Shale.
60.2 White massive cross-bedded sandstone of the Entrada Formation. This same unit is exposed along Wahweap Creek to the north (fig. 9.14) and is capped by massive brown sandstone bluffs of the Dakota Formation. Above that, the Mancos Shale forms a typical gray slope leading up to the coal-bearing Straight Cliffs and overlying Wahwealp Formations on the skyline. Directly ahead, triple stacks of the Navajo Power Plant rise above Page, Arizona. The plant burns coal mined in the Black Mesa area to the east.
61.5 White cross-bedded sandstone at the base of Blue Hole Wash Mesa is Cannonville Member of Entrada, overlain by Escalante Member of the Entrada which forms the prominent, nearly vertical cliff beneath the Morrison-Dakota ledge at the top. Cross Blue Hole Wash beyond the mesa.
62.7 View off to the cast of the blue water of Lake Powell. Navajo Mountain rises on the far skyline due east. Escalante and Cannonville members of the Entrada Formation show well on the south side of the road with the massive, more platy bedded upper Escalante beds now starting to Lake on a few reddish streaks above the softer crossbedded, silty Cannonville rocks.
Figure 9.14. View northward across entrenched Wahweap Canyon from approximately Mile 60.2. Massive cross-bedded upper Entrada Sandstone is exposed in the gorge and is capped by a thin, resistant, ledge-forming unit of the Morrison Formation. Higher slopes beyond are in Mancos Shale and are capped by coal-bearing Straight Cliffs Formation.
65.5 Utah-Arizona State Line. A short distance beyond is a side road into trailer court and camping area.
68.5 Side Road to Wahweap Marina and other facilities on the west side of Lake Powell. The marina can be seen to the northeast along the lake shore (fig. 9.15).
Figure 9.15. View northward from approximately Mile 68.5 to the Wahweap Marina and the arm of Lake Powell that extends tip Wahweap Creek. Various units of the Entrada Formation form cliff exposures beyond Lake Powell.
70.6 Highway drops steeply down into the Glen Canyon Area, in Navajo Sandstone. The Carmel Formation is a thin red rippled sandstone unit underlying much of the Page town site and capping the bluff between here and there.
71.5 View of the east abutment of the dam in cross-bedded Navajo Sandstone well exposed in bluffs along the immediate side of the road, as well as down in the gorge, near the dam area (fig. 9.16).
Figure 9.16. Glen Canyon Dam as seen north up the gorge of Glen Canyon from the overlook west of Page. Navajo Sandstone makes up most of the vertical walls of the gorge.
72.5 Double road cuts through upper beds of Navajo Sandstone. The typical windblown cross bedding of the unit shows well here and in the overlying beds as well.
72.8 Side Road to the Glen Canyon Visitors Center , and west abutment to the bridge over Glen Canyon. Glen Canyon Dam ponds Colorado River water in Lake Powell and is a concrete structure based in large part in Navajo Sandstone.
74.0 Junction Loop Business U.S. Highway 89 Into Page. Turn east on business route and climb bluff into Page.
74.8 Entering Page. Bluffs in the immediate vicinity of Page community are capped by Carmel Formation above the Navajo Sandstone. Continue on business route U.S. 89 through town.
76.4 Junction of Business Route U.S. Highway 89 with U.S. Highway 89 Bypass. Turn south toward Cameron, Grand Canyon, and Flagstaff. Deeply incised Glen Canyon is visible occasionally to the west. The road continues for the next several miles through the uppermost beds of Navajo Sandstone veneered here and there by recent windblown sand.
79.3 Cross beneath power transmission lines heading toward the south. The "P" on the bluff to the east is on upper beds of Navajo Sandstone.
82.2 Double road cuts through Navajo Sandstone. The high skyline ahead to the south-southeast is the top of the Navajo Sandstone capped by basal beds of the overlying Carmel. The Carmel Limestone has been stripped off from near the road and has left a planar surface into which the small tributaries of Glen Canyon have now carved deep gorges.
86.7 Road bend, excellent view back to the north of the panorama of the basin to Smoky Mountain and the Cretaceous rocks beyond Lake Powell. Navajo Sandstone is well exposed in deep double road cuts that mark the backside of the cuesta.
88.3 Road cuts at the top of the divide in Navajo Sandstone. The pasture-like upland surface here has rolling relief and suggests recent removal of the overlying Carmel rocks.
97.5 Beginning of Deep Roadcuts through the deep red Navajo Sandstone at the top of Echo Cliffs. Rest area at the West End of the cuts looks over the Marble Platform, which is developed on the top of the Kaibab Limestone (fig. 9.17). Across the Marble Platform and the Marble Gorge of the Colorado River to the northwest, the Vermilion Cliffs of Moenave and Navajo Sandstones form the bold escarpment. The cliffs loop around the east side of the platform, and then heads south along the Echo Cliffs Monocline, Moenkopi rocks form the Chocolate Cliffs in the reentrant to the north below the Vermilion Cliffs. South of the rest area, Navajo Sandstone caps the cliff well above the Moenave beds (fig. 9.18). Alternate U.S. Highway 89 is the road in the subsequent valley to the southwest and is built on Moenkopi beds above eastward dipping Kaibab Limestone. The highway drops down the cuesta face through loose slumped material. Chinle Shale beneath is unstable when wet, and the overlying Moenave rocks have been jointed and slumped. Such movement produces angular rubble blocks along the road as well as the hummocky topography to the west.
Figure 9.17. View westward across the Marble Platform from the rat area at the west end of the cuts through the Echo Cliffs at Mile 97.5. The Colorado River is entrenched here into a surface held up by resistant Kaibab Limestone. The Vermilion Cliffs of Moenave and Navajo Formations rise above a slope zone eroded on well-bedded Moenkopi and soft Chinle beds.
Figure 9.18.View southward along the Echo Cliffs and the Echo Cliffs Monocline from approximately Mile 98.0. The cliff is capped by Navajo Sandstone and the bedded ledge and slope zone below is on the Moenave Formation which rises above the flat land on Chinle and Moenkopi beds. Kaibab Limestone is exposed in the Marble Platform in the distance at the right.
99.2 Slumped pink and gray ashey-appearing Chinle Shale in the upper part of cuesta is veneered by an armor of slumped Moenave, Kayenta, and Navajo Sandstone blocks.
101.3 Junction of Alternate U.S. Highway 89A with Main U.S. Highway 89 at Bitter Springs. Turn south toward Flagstaff on U.S. Highway 89. To the west of the junction, Kaibab Limestone is exposed in the gullies. Upper Chinle, Moenave, and Navajo formations form the Echo Cliffs to the cast. The highway continues to the south toward Cameron in a subsequent valley carved on the Moenkopi and lower Chinle formations.
103.0 Shinarump Conglomerate and tilted slumped toreva blocks of overlying Chinle beds exposed east of the road at the base of the escarpment and along Roundy Creek. Top of the Kaibab Limestone is well exposed in canyons and gullies to the west.
106.1 Kaibab Limestone exposed in cuts immediately west of the road. The road continues about on the top of the Kaibab.
110.2 U.S. Highway 89 leaves upper beds of the Kaibab Limestone and diagonals across the Moenkopi Formation which is a thin-bedded, chocolate-colored, silty, mudstone. Moenkopi exposures are capped by tan resistant Shinarump Conglomerate.
112.3 Side roads leading up onto the Marble Platform from Roundy Creek show Moenkopi rocks beneath a thin Shinarump Conglomerate. Kaibab Limestone is exposed in the head waters of the gullies to the west. On the Echo Cliffs to the east, the lightcolored striped tan and reddish brown sandstone is the Navajo Formation resting on the darker reddish brown Moenave Formation. Most of the valley between the road and the base of the cliff is carved on the Chinle Formation (fig. 9.19).
Figure 9.19.View northeastward to the face of the Echo Cliffs at approximately Mile 112.0. The slope at the base of the escarpment is on Chinle beds with the lowermost persistent ledge held up by the Dinosaur Canyon member of the Moenave Formation. The overlying slope is carved on the Whitmore Point Member and the next dark handed series of the ledges are in the Springdale Sandstone Member of the formation. Navajo Sandstone caps the escarpment and forms the upper desert varnish-painted sheer wall.
120.4 Trading Post at Cedar Ridge. The road continues in red brown Moenkopi beds with Kaibab beds exposed along the monocline to the west and Chinle and younger formations; making the Echo Cliffs to the cast. The younger rocks are closely jointed and break down to produce gaps in the cliffs, allowing access to the plateau surface to the cast.
122.3 Double road cuts through Moenkopi beds. Kaibab Limestone exposed a short distance to the west of the road, and Shinarump Conglomerate forming the lightcolored sandstone cuesta-cap to the east in the head waters of Hamblin Wash (fig. 9.20).
Figure 9.20. View northeastward from the top of the Kaibab Limestone to jointed Navajo Sandstone along the Echo Cliffs Monocline at approximately Mile 122.0. Banded exposures in the gorge in the foreground are Moenkopi Formation overlain by Shinarump Sandstone. The valley beyond is carved, in large part, in the Chinle Formation.
125.8 Moenkopi and Shinarump Formations exposed in road cuts and bridge abutment on the southwest side of the road.
127.8 The Gap Trading Post with school, and other facilities. Upper Chinle beds exposed well to the cast beneath the angular weathering Moenave Sandstone which forms a prominent cuesta beneath the Kayenta and Navajo Sandstones.
132.7 Chinle beds exposed beneath terrace cover. Here they demonstrate that they are particularly susceptible to heaving, and make poor road beds.
136.9 Roadside Rest Area. The road continues through the lower Chinle Formation with Moenkopi rocks exposed to the west. Petrified Forest Member of the Chinle is exposed to the east beneath the more evenly-bedded, lacustrian-appearing pinkish Owl Rock and Church Rock Members of the formation.
137.9 Excellent exposures of Shinarump Conglomerate to the west and near the road with some exposures of Moenkopi beds showing in the farther reaches of the canyon. Outcrop of the overlying Moenave Sandstone now begins to swing to the southeast around the southwestern edge of the San Juan Basin.
138.5 Junction U.S. Highway 160 with U.S. Highway 89. U.S. Highway 89 continues south to Cameron and Flagstaff and the entrance road to Grand Canyon National Park. U.S. Highway 160 leads northeastward across the Navajo Reservation to the Four-Corners area. For a description of the geology along U.S. Highway 160 see HW-160 Road Guide..
from Field Guide: Northern Colorado Plateau by J. Keith Rigby - Purchase Information
