Like the nearby Coyote Buttes, Paria Rimrocks is a region of fantastic rock formations that was virtually unknown until a few years ago, becoming popular only by word of mouth and publication of a few photographs. The rimrocks cover a much smaller area than the buttes and are not subject to any access restrictions though they are also a lot easier to reach, being right next to US 89, a few miles east of the Paria River crossing and just within the
Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. A small parking area and BLM trail register is all that identifies the location, which is between mileposts 19 and 20, on the north side of the road, shortly after it descends into a valley and curves round a small cliff (when approaching from the east).
Rocks: Vast areas either side of the Paria River have similar erosional scenery, based on bands of rock in many different colors - yellow, purple and red are the most prominent, though in the rimrocks, the layers are mostly white and brown, and the differing hardness of the strata have created a great expanse of cliffs, plateaus, canyons, washes and badlands. The one extra, more unusual feature is the many balanced rocks - 'hoodoos' or 'mushrooms', where flat blocks of hard sandstone are perched atop narrow columns of softer rock. These provide many of the most photogenic scenes.
Formations: From the trail register, a dusty, well trodden path winds along a dry wash for half a mile then through some whitish badlands to a flat terrace with the main formations. Higher grey cliffs rise just to the north, and all around are other peaks and mounds showing abrupt color changes between white and brown. To the left, the land slopes up to an array of hoodoos, then ends at a big drop off before the adjacent valley to the west, while to the right, another plateau with isolated mushroom rocks is bordered by a low ridge, far side of which forms the edge of a white rock canyon that winds northeast for one mile and becomes quite narrow. Further away, the surrounding land has a mixture of small washes, mud hills, eroded pinnacles of many colors, all overlooked to the north by white cliffs of soft sandstone. Just above here runs the lower end of the long, unpaved road to
Cottonwood Canyon. The rimrocks continue for another couple of miles westwards, bordering US 89, as far as the wide valley of the Paria River.
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Paria Rimrocks - Nearby Places
Buckskin Gulch (20 miles) - longest slot canyon in the Southwest |
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