White Canyon (San Juan County, Utah) on:
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White Canyon is a
White Canyon is a canyon
A canyon (from ; archaic British English spelling: ''cañon''), or gorge, is a deep cleft between escarpments or cliffs resulting from weathering and the erosive activity of a river over geologic time scales. Rivers have a natural tendency to ...
in San Juan County, Utah, United States.
Description
The canyon is notable forAncestral Puebloan
The Ancestral Puebloans, also known as the Anasazi, were an ancient Native American culture that spanned the present-day Four Corners region of the United States, comprising southeastern Utah, northeastern Arizona, northwestern New Mexico, an ...
cliff dwelling
In archaeology, cliff dwellings are dwellings formed by using niches or caves in high cliffs, and sometimes with excavation or additions in the way of masonry.
Two special types of cliff dwelling are distinguished by archaeologists: the cliff ...
s and slot canyon
A slot canyon is a long, narrow channel or drainageway with sheer rock walls that are typically eroded into either sandstone or other sedimentary rock. A slot canyon has depth-to-width ratios that typically exceed 10:1 over most of its length and ...
s. It is spanned by Sipapu Bridge, one of the largest natural bridge
A natural arch, natural bridge, or (less commonly) rock arch is a natural landform where an arch has formed with an opening underneath. Natural arches commonly form where inland cliffs, coastal cliffs, fins or stacks are subject to erosion fr ...
s in the world.
The canyon begins in the foothills of the Abajo Mountains
The Abajo Mountains, sometimes referred to as the Blue Mountains, is a small mountain range west of Monticello, Utah, south of Canyonlands National Park and north of Blanding, Utah. The mountain range is located within the Manti–La Sal National ...
and passes through Natural Bridges National Monument
Natural Bridges National Monument is a U.S. National Monument located about northwest of the Four Corners boundary of southeast Utah, in the western United States, at the junction of White Canyon and Armstrong Canyon, part of the Colora ...
before emptying into Lake Powell. Utah State Route 95
State Route 95 or Bicentennial Highway is a state highway located in the southeast of the U.S. state of Utah. The highway is an access road for tourism in the Lake Powell and Cedar Mesa areas, notably bisecting Bears Ears National Monument and pro ...
parallels the inner gorge of the canyon for much of its length.
One particularly deep and narrow section of White Canyon is known as the Black Hole. The walls in this permanently flooded long section are only a few feet (about 1 m) apart in some places. Canyoneers sometimes wear wetsuit
A wetsuit is a garment worn to provide thermal protection while wet. It is usually made of foamed neoprene, and is worn by surfers, divers, windsurfers, canoeists, and others engaged in water sports and other activities in or on water. Its ...
s to guard against hypothermia while traversing this section. The danger of flash flooding is very high due to the canyon's large drainage basin. A 16-year-old girl drowned in a flash flood while hiking in the Black Hole area in September 1996.
See also
*List of canyons and gorges in Utah
This is a partial list of canyons in the U.S. state of Utah along with any rivers, roads, and other features (such as rail lines) that pass through them.
See also
External links
{{Utah
Canyons and gorges of Utah,
Lists of landforms ...
References
External links
Archaeological sites in Utah Canyons and gorges of Utah Rock art in North America Landforms of San Juan County, Utah Cliff dwellings Petroglyphs in Utah {{Utah-geo-stub