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Geological Survey Bulletin 1508
The Geologic Story of Colorado National Monument
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TRIPS THROUGH AND AROUND
THE MONUMENT(continued)
Through Glade Park from the Northwest Arm of Ute
Canyon to Columbus Canyon

34 GLADE PARK ROAD |
A VERY PLEASANT 11-mile drive through Glade Park
may be made from the intersection where Rim Rock Drive crosses
the northwest arm of Ute Canyon (p. 108) to the
intersection with the same drive on the rim of Columbus Canyon a quarter
of a mile southwest of Cold Shivers Point (p. 120). The name Glade Park
refers not only to the Store and Post Office mentioned earlier, but
also to a nearly flat farming and ranching area south of the
Monumentan area entirely different from the Monument or The
Redlands. Most of the cultivated part of Glade Park is underlain by
nearly flat lying Entrada Sandstone which was weathered to a sandy
soil, but a few areas are underlain by the Morrison Formation. This
drive should appeal particularly to people spending from a few days to
a week or more in the campground. For the more adventuresome, other
interesting roads join Glade Park from several directions, as noted
below.
After leaving Rim Rock Drive at Ute Canyon, on a good
gravelled road, we traverse attractive, hilly, wooded country
generally southward for about a mile and climb some 300 feet
to a flat area covered mainly by sagebrush and grass. About 3
miles south of the intersection, we see on the left the leached
white outcrops of the Entrada Sandstone shown in figure 19.
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35 GLADE PARK |
Another 2 miles takes us to the Glade Park Store and Post
Office at a four-way intersection.
An improved, gravelled road leads westward through
pleasant country some 20 miles to the Utah State line, beyond which an
unimproved road leads either to the Colorado or the Dolores Rivers.
Future planning calls for improving the Utah stretch of this road and
for building a bridge across either the Colorado or Dolores Rivers to
connect with scenic Utah Highway 128. If and when completed, this would
afford a very scenic shortcut from Moab, Utah, to Grand Junction via the
Little Park Road (to be described).
South from the four-way intersection an improved
gravelled road takes us through wooded country, past lakes and
campgrounds, to the summit of Piñon Mesa, as noted earlier.
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36 GLADE PARK FAULT |
Also, from the intersection a paved county road known
as DS (south) Road leads eastward then northeastward through farming and
ranching country 6 miles to the intersection with Rim Rock Drive near
Cold Shivers Point. Three-fourths of a mile east of the Glade Park Store and Post
Office the road crosses the Glade Park fault (fig. 8) along which
the Morrison and Summerville Formations on the right have dropped
down with respect to the Entrada Sandstone on the left.
Here, the Entrada also has been leached to white.
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37 LITTLE PARK ROAD |
At 1-1/2 miles east of the Glade Park Store and
Post Office is the intersection with the improved gravelled Little
Park Road, which will be described later. At 2-3/4 miles beyond this intersection,
the DS Road leaves the Entrada Sandstone and is on a
wooded stretch of the Kayenta Formation the remaining 2
miles to Rim Rock Drive. The last one-tenth of a mile is
crooked and steep, so please slow down before reaching the
stop sign at the intersection. Some years ago the brakes on a
pickup truck failed as the driver approached the stop sign, but
he was lucky enough to jump out at the top of the cliff just
before the truck plunged to the bottom of Columbus Canyon.
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bul/1508/sec12e.htm
Last Updated: 8-Jan-2007
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