The Castle Viewpoint

At eye level, red-brown Moenkopi beds form the base. Above them are gray-green and maroon Chinle mounds, scattered with slabs that have fallen from the massive Wingate cliffs. Kayenta sits above Wingate, often as a thinner layer with piñon and juniper, and pale Navajo Sandstone domes round out the top of the stack.

The Fremont River Corridor changes the view as it runs east. The rock layers dip steeply toward the ground, and the Chinle disappears first, followed by Wingate, Kayenta and Navajo. The sequence gets younger from the lower layers upward, so you’re looking at a long slice through southern Utah’s rock record.

For a photo, include the softer, scalloped beds beneath the freestanding bluff. The red, gray-green and pale layers show why this looks like a castle set on its own above the cliffs.