The Roan Cliffs are a series of desert mountains and

cliff In geography and geology, a cliff is an area of rock which has a general angle defined by the vertical, or nearly vertical. Cliffs are formed by the processes of weathering and erosion, with the effect of gravity. Cliffs are common on co ...

s in eastern

Utah Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to it ...

and western

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the wes ...

, in the western

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 territori ...

that are distinct from (but closely associated with) the

Book Cliffs The Book Cliffs are a series of desert mountains and cliffs in western Colorado and eastern Utah in the western United States. They are so named because the cliffs of Cretaceous sandstone that cap many of the south-facing buttes appear similar ...

Description

While Roan Cliffs are "remote and inaccessible", the Book Cliffs run along the edge of the Castle, Gunnison, and

Grand Grand may refer to: People with the name * Grand (surname) * Grand L. Bush (born 1955), American actor * Grand Mixer DXT, American turntablist * Grand Puba (born 1966), American rapper Places * Grand, Oklahoma * Grand, Vosges, village and c ...

valleys and are therefore readily visible from populated areas (i.e.,

Price A price is the (usually not negative) quantity of payment or compensation given by one party to another in return for goods or services. In some situations, the price of production has a different name. If the product is a "good" in the ...

and

Green River Green River may refer to: Rivers Canada * Green River (British Columbia), a tributary of the Lillooet River *Green River, a tributary of the Saint John River, also known by its French name of Rivière Verte *Green River (Ontario), a tributary of ...

in Utah and Grand Junction in Colorado) and well traveled

transportation corridors A transport corridor is a generally linear area that is defined by one or more modes of transportation crossing the limits of more than one city or county like highways, railroads or public transit which share a common destination. Development of ...

(i.e.,

I-70 Interstate 70 (I-70) is a major east–west Interstate Highway in the United States that runs from I-15 near Cove Fort, Utah, to a park and ride lot just east of I-695 in Baltimore, Maryland, and is the fifth-longest Interstate in the c ...

, US-6,

US-50 U.S. Route 50 or U.S. Highway 50 (US 50) is a major east–west route of the U.S. Highway system, stretching from Interstate 80 (I-80) in West Sacramento, California, to Maryland Route 528 (MD 528) in Ocean City, Maryland, on the Atlantic ...

, and US-191). As such the Book Cliffs are much better known than the Roan Cliffs. In addition, the name Book Cliffs is often applied to both landforms, with Roan Cliffs being an alternate name. Moreover, because of how far they are spread between Utah and Colorado, they are sometimes mistakenly believed to be separate landforms of the same name within each state. The Roan Cliffs are situated north of (in back of) and above, but run roughly parallel to, the Book Cliffs. Stretching nearly from west to east, the Roan Cliffs begin on southern edge of the West Tavaputs Plateau, on the eastern edge of the Willow Creek (and the US-191 corridor), north of Emma Park, and northwest of Helper on the

Carbon Carbon () is a chemical element with the symbol C and atomic number 6. It is nonmetallic and tetravalent—its atom making four electrons available to form covalent chemical bonds. It belongs to group 14 of the periodic table. Carbon mak ...

‑

Duchesne Duchesne is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Joseph Duchesne (c. 1544–1609), French physician and chemist. Physician-in-ordinary to King Henry IV * André Duchesne (1584–1640), French historian * François Duchesne (1616� ...

county line Borders are usually defined as geographical boundaries, imposed either by features such as oceans and terrain, or by political entities such as governments, sovereign states, federated states, and other subnational entities. Political borders c ...

. (The Book Cliffs do not reach into Duchesne County, but do extend a bit further west to the

Price River The Price River is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed October 30, 2020 southeastward flowing river in Carbon, Utah and Emery counties in eastern Utah. It is a tributary to ...

.) The Roan Cliffs then run southeast along the southern edge of the West Tavaputs Plateau (but north of Whitmore Park), passing through the northeast corner of Emery County until it reaches the

in the Desolation and

Gray Grey (more common in British English) or gray (more common in American English) is an intermediate color between black and white. It is a neutral or achromatic color, meaning literally that it is "without color", because it can be composed o ...

canyons. (The Green River divides the West Tavaputs Plateau from the East Tavaputs Plateau and runs along the Emery‑

county line.) Upon entering Grand County, the Roan Cliffs initially pass through the southern edge of the

Uintah and Ouray Indian Reservation The Uintah and Ouray Indian Reservation (, ) is located in northeastern Utah, United States. It is the homeland of the Ute Indian Tribe ( Ute dialect: Núuchi-u), and is the largest of three Indian reservations inhabited by members of the Ute Trib ...

. The cliffs continue their southeast course along the southern edge of the East Tavaputs Plateau until they reach a point near the head of

Thompson Canyon The Thompson River is the largest tributary of the Fraser River, flowing through the south-central portion of British Columbia, Canada. The Thompson River has two main branches, the South Thompson River and the North Thompson River. The river ...

(about north of the community of Thompson Springs). From that point the cliffs head northeast, but still along the southern edge of the East Tavaputs Plateau. They continue northeast until, after passing partially and briefly back into Uintah County, they reach the Utah‑Colorado state line. East of the state line, the Roan Cliffs continue a northeastern course in Garfield County until they reach the East Salt Creek (and the SH-139 ouglas Roadcorridor). Beyond that creek, the Roan Cliffs run southeast along the southern edge of the East Tavaputs Plateau until they reach the

Colorado River The Colorado River ( es, Río Colorado) is one of the principal rivers (along with the Rio Grande) in the Southwestern United States and northern Mexico. The river drains an expansive, arid watershed that encompasses parts of seven U.S. s ...

(and the

/ US-6 corridor) at a point about north of the Town of De Beque. (The course of the Book Cliffs runs southeast to their eastern end at the Colorado River in the

De Beque Canyon De Beque Canyon is a narrow canyon on the Colorado River in western Colorado in the United States. It is approximately 15 miles (24 km) long, located on the river downstream from the town of De Beque, in eastern Mesa County. The canyon forms ...

, near the town of Palisade and just northeast of the city of Grand Junction. This is also the eastern end of the Grand Valley.) The Roan Cliffs then run briefly northeast again (along the Colorado River) to a point about west‑northwest of the City of Rifle. This is also near the highpoint for the Roan Cliffs, the Gardner Benchmark, with an elevation of and coordinates . The course of cliffs then turns northwest to run along the southwest side of Government Creek (and the SH-13 overnment Roadcorridor) until they reach their eastern end, just south of the Garfield‑ Rio Blanco county line, about south‑southeast of the "mid-corner" of Rio Blanco County and about northwest of the City of Rifle.

History

The Roan Cliffs were originally called the Brown Cliffs by

John Wesley Powell John Wesley Powell (March 24, 1834 – September 23, 1902) was an American geologist, U.S. Army soldier, explorer of the American West, professor at Illinois Wesleyan University, and director of major scientific and cultural institutions. He ...

(the second Director of the

United States Geological Survey The United States Geological Survey (USGS), formerly simply known as the Geological Survey, is a scientific agency of the United States government. The scientists of the USGS study the landscape of the United States, its natural resources, ...

), but the name was officially changed in 1932 to Roan Cliffs, to better match the roan color of the cliffs.

References

External links

Image of Roan Cliffs on gigapan.com
{{authority control Cliffs of the United States Mountains of Colorado Mountains of Utah Colorado Plateau Mountains of Carbon County, Utah Mountains of Duchesne County, Utah Mountains of Emery County, Utah Mountains of Garfield County, Colorado Mountains of Grand County, Utah Mountains of Mesa County, Colorado Stratigraphy of Colorado Stratigraphy of Utah Bureau of Land Management areas in Colorado Bureau of Land Management areas in Utah

Description

History

See also

References

External links