Goblin Valley Utah State Parks.
Goblin Valley State Park is inhabited by strange and unique rock sculptures, carved by wind and water, that suggest mischievous goblins and phantasmagoric creatures. It also contains colorful chocolate-colored balanced rocks, spires and pedestals amidst the solitude of the Great Basin Desert.
The valley, which is only about a mile across and two miles long, is full of thousands of mushroom-shaped pinnacles a few feet high. These pinnacles are composed of large, orange-brown boulders of hard rock atop weaker sandy layers which have eroded more quickly. Goblin Valley State Park is located in Emery County between the towns of Green River and Hanksville. Follow Utah Highway 24 to Temple Mountain Junction and proceed 14 miles southwest on a surfaced and improved gravel road. The park encompasses 3,014 acres.
Secluded Goblin Valley was first discovered by cowboys searching for cattle. Then in the late 1920s, Arthur Chaffin, owner/operator of the Hite Ferry (a ferry used to shuttle people across the Colorado River), and two companions were searching for an alternative route between Green River and Cainsville. They came to a vantage point about a mile west of Goblin Valley and were awed by what they saw – five buttes and a valley of strangely shaped rock formations surrounded by a wall of eroded cliffs.
In 1949, Chaffin returned to the area he called Mushroom Valley. He spent several days exploring the mysterious valley and photographing its scores of intricately eroded creatures. Publicity attracted visitors to the valley despite its remoteness. In 1954, it was proposed that Goblin Valley be protected from vandalism. The state of Utah later acquired the property and established Goblin Valley State Reserve. It was officially designated a state park on August 24, 1964.
Geology
The unusual stone shapes in Goblin Valley result from the weathering of Entrada sandstone. The Entrada consists of debris eroded from former highlands and redeposited on a former tidal flat of alternating layers of sandstone, siltstone, and shale. The rocks show evidence of being near the margins of an ancient sea with the ebb and flow of tides, tidal channels that directed currents back to the sea and coastal sand dunes.
Joint or fracture patterns within the Entrada sandstone beds created initial zones of weakness. The unweathered joints intersected to form sharp edges and corners with greater surface-area-to-volume ratios than the faces. As a result, the edges and corners weathered more quickly, producing the spherical-shaped 'goblins'.
The Entrada sandstone from which the hoodoos developed was deposited in the Jurassic period around 170 million years ago.
Goblin Valley Utah State Parks.
Goblin Valley State Park is inhabited by strange and unique rock sculptures, carved by wind and water, that suggest mischievous goblins and phantasmagoric creatures. It also contains colorful chocolate-colored balanced rocks, spires and pedestals amidst the solitude of the Great Basin Desert.
The valley, which is only about a mile across and two miles long, is full of thousands of mushroom-shaped pinnacles a few feet high. These pinnacles are composed of large, orange-brown boulders of hard rock atop weaker sandy layers which have eroded more quickly. Goblin Valley State Park is located in Emery County between the towns of Green River and Hanksville. Follow Utah Highway 24 to Temple Mountain Junction and proceed 14 miles southwest on a surfaced and improved gravel road. The park encompasses 3,014 acres.
Secluded Goblin Valley was first discovered by cowboys searching for cattle. Then in the late 1920s, Arthur Chaffin, owner/operator of the Hite Ferry (a ferry used to shuttle people across the Colorado River), and two companions were searching for an alternative route between Green River and Cainsville. They came to a vantage point about a mile west of Goblin Valley and were awed by what they saw – five buttes and a valley of strangely shaped rock formations surrounded by a wall of eroded cliffs.
In 1949, Chaffin returned to the area he called Mushroom Valley. He spent several days exploring the mysterious valley and photographing its scores of intricately eroded creatures. Publicity attracted visitors to the valley despite its remoteness. In 1954, it was proposed that Goblin Valley be protected from vandalism. The state of Utah later acquired the property and established Goblin Valley State Reserve. It was officially designated a state park on August 24, 1964.
Geology
The unusual stone shapes in Goblin Valley result from the weathering of Entrada sandstone. The Entrada consists of debris eroded from former highlands and redeposited on a former tidal flat of alternating layers of sandstone, siltstone, and shale. The rocks show evidence of being near the margins of an ancient sea with the ebb and flow of tides, tidal channels that directed currents back to the sea and coastal sand dunes.
Joint or fracture patterns within the Entrada sandstone beds created initial zones of weakness. The unweathered joints intersected to form sharp edges and corners with greater surface-area-to-volume ratios than the faces. As a result, the edges and corners weathered more quickly, producing the spherical-shaped 'goblins'.
The Entrada sandstone from which the hoodoos developed was deposited in the Jurassic period around 170 million years ago.