The Snake River Canyon (also known as the ''Grand Canyon'') is formed by the

Snake River The Snake River is a major river of the greater Pacific Northwest region in the United States. At long, it is the largest tributary of the Columbia River, in turn, the largest North American river that empties into the Pacific Ocean. The Snake ...

in western

Wyoming Wyoming () is a U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho to the west, Utah to the south ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

, south of

Jackson Hole Jackson Hole (originally called Jackson's Hole by mountain men) is a valley between the Gros Ventre and Teton mountain ranges in the U.S. state of Wyoming, near the border with Idaho, in Teton County, one of the richest counties in the Unite ...

. At the southern end of this canyon is the town of

Alpine, Wyoming Alpine is a town in Lincoln County, Wyoming, United States. The population was 828 at the 2010 census. Geography Alpine is located at the southern end of the Snake River Canyon where the Snake River enters Palisades Reservoir. The town is also ...

where the

meets the

Greys River The Greys River is a tributary of the Snake River, flowing through western Wyoming in the United States. The river is about long,U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map , accessed May 4, ...

and the Salt River at Palisades Reservoir on the Wyoming-

Idaho Idaho ( ) is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. To the north, it shares a small portion of the Canada–United States border with the province of British Columbia. It borders the states of Montana and Wyom ...

border. It is a popular destination for rafting trips and is known for having some of the best

white-water rafting Rafting and whitewater rafting are recreational outdoor activities which use an inflatable raft to navigate a river or other body of water. This is often done on whitewater or different degrees of rough water. Dealing with risk is often a ...

in the United States. Running through the canyon is

US 89 U.S. Route 89 (US 89) is a north–south United States Numbered Highway with two sections, and one former section. The southern section runs for from Flagstaff, Arizona, to the southern entrance of Yellowstone National Park. The northern section ...

Geology

The Snake River cuts through a

fold and thrust belt A fold and thrust belt (FTB) is a series of mountainous foothills adjacent to an orogenic belt, which forms due to contractional tectonics. Fold and thrust belts commonly form in the forelands adjacent to major orogens as deformation propagates ou ...

on its way from Hoback, Wyoming to Alpine, Wyoming. The

North American Plate The North American Plate is a tectonic plate covering most of North America, Cuba, the Bahamas, extreme northeastern Asia, and parts of Iceland and the Azores. With an area of , it is the Earth's second largest tectonic plate, behind the Pacific ...

has pushed against the

Farallon Plate The Farallon Plate was an ancient oceanic plate. It formed one of the three main plates of Panthalassa, alongside the Phoenix Plate and Izanagi Plate, which were connected by a triple junction. The Farallon Plate began subducting under the west c ...

to create many geologic features including the folds and thrusts visible in the Snake River Canyon in Wyoming.

References

External links

Snake River Landforms of Lincoln County, Wyoming Canyons and gorges of Wyoming {{Wyoming-geo-stub