• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
Hit the Trail

Hit the Trail

Phantom Ranch, Grand Canyon, Sedona, & the Southwest

  • Home
  • Hikers Guide
    • Equipment
      • Backcountry Food
      • Backcountry Kitchen Gear
      • Backpacking Stoves
      • Backpacks
      • Boots & Footwear
      • Clothing
      • Equipment Guide
      • Equipment Rentals/Purchase
      • Flashlights and Lanterns
      • Seat Pads
      • Sleeping Bags
      • Sleeping Pads
      • Socks
      • Tents
      • The Wonder Bucket
      • Walking Sticks
      • Water Purification
    • Trails & Campgrounds
      • Bright Angel Campground
      • Cottonwood Camp
      • Desert View
      • Grand Canyon’s Corridor Trails
      • Grand Canyon Trail Descriptions
      • Havasu and Mooney Falls
      • Indian Garden Campground
      • North Rim Campgrounds
      • North Rim Day Hikes
      • North Rim Yurt
      • Pack Hauling Service
      • Phantom Ranch/BA Day Hikes
      • Phantom Ranch Area Map
      • Phantom Ranch FAQs
      • Phantom Ranch Lodging/Dining
      • South Rim Campgrounds
      • South Rim Day Hikes
      • Sedona/Verde Valley Trails
      • Toroweap & Tuweep
      • Trip Reports and Resources
      • Trip Reports – Baja
    • Safety, Resources & Training
      • Acrophobia/Fear of Heights
      • Arizona Hiking Clubs
      • Backcountry 911
      • Backcountry Etiquette
      • Backcountry Permits
      • Bubonic Plague
      • Heat Strain
      • Hiker FAQs
      • Hiker’s Links/Resources
      • Lightning Strikes/Safety Tips
      • Monsoon Facts
      • Rabies
      • Training/Physical Fitness
    • Tips & Tricks
      • Author’s Tips & Tricks
      • Boot Lacing Technique
      • Phantom Ranch Tips & Tricks
      • Readers’ Tips & Tricks
      • Rest Step for Uphill Hiking
      • Summertime Hiking Tips
      • Winter Hiking Tips
      • Women’s Tips & Tricks
  • Visitors Guide
    • General Information
      • Entrance Fees/Park Brochures
      • Events Calendar
      • Fishing Regulations
      • Fires/Smoke in Park
      • Fishing Regulations
      • Grand Canyon Distances
      • Grand Canyon Park Links
      • Grand Canyon Trivia/Facts
      • Grand Canyon Weather
      • Havasu and Mooney Falls
      • Hiking Guides
      • Indian Reservations
      • Photo Galleries
      • Ranger Programs
    • South Rim
      • Desert View
      • Havasu and Mooney Falls
      • South Rim Campgrounds
      • South Rim Day Hikes
      • South Rim Lodging
      • South Rim Mule Rides
      • South Rim Restaurants/Cafés
      • South Rim Services
      • South Rim Transportation
    • Phantom Ranch
      • Pack Hauling/Duffel Service
      • Phantom Ranch Area Map
      • Phantom Ranch/BA Day Hikes
      • Phantom Ranch FAQs
      • Phantom Ranch Human History
      • Phantom Ranch Lodging/Dining
      • Phantom Mule Ride Gallery
      • Phantom Ranch Mule Rides
      • Phantom Ranch Tips & Tricks
    • North Rim
      • North Rim Campgrounds
      • North Rim Day Hikes
      • North Rim Dining/Food Service
      • North Rim Lodging
      • North Rim Mule Rides
      • North Rim Services
      • North Rim Yurt
      • Toroweap & Tuweep
    • Sedona
      • Permitted Guide Services
      • Red Rock Pass
      • Sedona Geology
      • Sedona Information
      • Sedona Photography
      • Sedona/Verde Valley Area Trails
      • Visitor Centers
  • Mules, Guides & River Trips
    • Commercial River Trips
    • Hiking Guides
    • Horseback Rides
    • Mule Ride Gallery
    • North Rim Mule Rides
    • Pack Hauling/Duffel Service
    • Phantom Ranch Mule Rides
    • Private River Trips
    • River Trip Safety
    • South Rim Mule Rides
  • Explore
    • Natural History
      • Bats
      • Canyon Treefrogs
      • Condors at Grand Canyon
      • Ravens
      • Scorpions
      • Snakes
      • Squirrels & Rodents
      • Tarantulas/Other Spiders
    • Human History
      • Civilian Conservation Corps
      • Phantom Ranch History
      • Pre-Park Era
      • NPS Era
    • Grand Canyon Geology
      • Intro to Grand Canyon Geology
      • Kaibab Limestone to Supai Formation
      • Redwall Limestone to Tapeats Sandstone
      • The Supergroup
      • The Inner Gorge
    • Lake Powell Geology
      • Introduction
      • The Back Story
      • Rock Layers
      • Monoclines
      • Prominent Rock Units
      • Striking Landscape
      • Laccoliths
      • Future of Lake Powell
    • Sedona Geology
      • Introduction
      • Prelude to the Red Rocks
      • Sedona’s Red Rocks, Part 1
      • Sedona’s Red Rocks, Part 2
      • Deposition, Uplift, and Erosion
      • House Mountain Volcano
      • Verde Valley and Verde Lake
      • Carving Oak Creek Canyon
  • Books & Videos
    • Hiking Guides
      • Apps, Maps & Hiking DVDs
      • Arizona Hiking
      • Canyon Country Hiking
      • Grand Canyon Hiking
      • Utah Hiking
    • Hiker Safety/Skills
      • Backcountry Skills
      • Camper’s Cookbooks
      • Search and Rescue
      • Wilderness First Aid
    • Natural/Human History
      • Grand Canyon Human History
      • Grand Canyon Legends
      • Natural History & Geology Guides
    • Colorado Plateau
      • Exploring Arizona
      • Exploring Utah
      • Regional Guides
      • Scenic Photography Books
  • Blog
    • Canyon Posts
    • Canyon Archives
    • Trip Reports
    • Baja Trip Archive – Baja
    • Site Contributors
Home/Sedona Geology/Creation of the Verde Valley and Verde Lake

Creation of the Verde Valley and Verde Lake

The Verde Formation | 2010 © Wayne Ranney
The Verde Formation is variable in outcrop with white limestone ledges representing high stands of the Verde Lake and brown mudstone slopes representing low-stands of the lake that allowed muddy sediment from rivers to cover the limestone. From page 114 of “Sedona Through Time” 2nd ed., 2010 © Wayne Ranney

If someone were hiking in the Sedona area 10 million years ago, they would see the Sedona red rocks partially exposed in an ancestral form of the Mogollon Rim, which itself was partly buried by lava from the House Mountain volcano.

This aspect of the past landscape would seem familiar to us modern visitors in the area. However, some things were quite different, as the Black Hills were not yet uplifted above the not-yet-fully-formed Verde Valley.

All this changed soon thereafter when the Verde Fault became active and raised the Black Hills. On its northeast side, the Mogollon Rim had already defined an early incarnation of the Verde Valley and subsequent uplift of the Black Hills completed its final shape.

Faulting also had one other important effect on the landscape – it blocked the free flow of the Verde River such that a large lake began to form on and off the basin floor. The resulting lake deposits are known as the Verde Formation, which makes up the whitish cliffs seen at Montezuma Castle, Montezuma Well, and Tuzigoot.

Trackways in the Verde Formation | © Wayne Ranney
Trackways in the Verde Formation | © Wayne Ranney

The specific size of the Verde Lake was variable through time on the landscape and it likely was never a deep lake, often becoming shallow or even a dry playa.

Changes in climate and precipitation determined whether the lake was expansive or diminished, with high periods of precipitation flooding the lake basin and causing the widespread deposition of white limestone.

Dryer episodes would shrink the lake’s outline allowing reddish sediment from the Sedona and Mogollon Rim areas to inundate and cover the lake bottom in red mudstone.

These alternating rock types reflect the changing climates that happened during the lake’s existence between about 9 and 3 million years ago.

Some fantastic animals roamed the shores of this ancient lake and their footprints are sometimes fortuitously preserved in the white limestone. Giant Stegomastodon prints, as well as dire wolf and camel are also found. In one instance, the lower jaw of a Stegomastodon complete with 12-foot long tusks was found near the Clarkdale Cement Plant. 

<<House Mountain Volcano | Carving Oak Creek Canyon>>

Some recommended products below may include affiliate links for which I may receive a commission if purchased when clicking through. Please note that I only recommend products that I feel are worthy, and you will not pay any extra when purchasing through these links. Click here to read the full disclosure statement.

Wayne Ranney’s Publications

Ancient Landscapes of the Colorado Plateau
Ancient Landscapes of the Colorado Plateau
  • Used Book in Good Condition
  • Blakey, Ron (Author)
  • English (Publication Language)
  • 156 Pages - 10/01/2008 (Publication Date) - Grand Canyon Association (Publisher)
$59.91
Buy on Amazon Price incl. tax, excl. shipping
Sedona Through Time
Sedona Through Time
  • Wayne Ranney (Author)
  • English (Publication Language)
  • 160 Pages - 09/23/2010 (Publication Date) - Primer Pub (Publisher)
$19.95
Buy on Amazon Price incl. tax, excl. shipping
Sale
The Grand Canyon, Monument to an Ancient Earth: Can Noah's Flood Explain the Grand Canyon?
The Grand Canyon, Monument to an Ancient Earth: Can Noah's Flood Explain the Grand Canyon?
  • Hardcover Book
  • English (Publication Language)
  • 240 Pages - 04/27/2016 (Publication Date) - Kregel Publications (Publisher)
$27.70
Buy on Amazon Price incl. tax, excl. shipping
Sale
Carving Grand Canyon: Evidence, Theories, and Mystery, Second Edition
Carving Grand Canyon: Evidence, Theories, and Mystery, Second Edition
  • Ranney, Wayne (Author)
  • English (Publication Language)
  • 200 Pages - 06/01/2012 (Publication Date) - Grand Canyon Association (Publisher)
$6.81
Buy on Amazon Price incl. tax, excl. shipping

Last update on 2023-01-29 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API

Published on: May 17, 2012

Categories: Sedona GeologyTags: ancient lake, Black Hills, Giant Stegomastodon, limestone, Mogollon Rim, Sedona, tusks, Verde Fault, Verde Valley

About Wayne Ranney

I am a geologist, a writer, a river and trail guide, and a traveler. Everything seems right when I am on a trail or river watching the earth spin - my cares and worries disappear, my body and mind get exercise, and there is nothing to disturb the ebb and flow of life.

Out there is where ideas come to me, where stories flow through me like the rivers that carry me towards home. Now and then, I post ramblings on geology, life in the west and on a living planet, and travels across the globe.

Life is good if only we'd take the time to understand that.

http://www.wayneranney.com/
https://earthly-musings.blogspot.com/

Primary Sidebar

Sedona Geology

Sedona’s Geologic Story – Introduction

Whether they know it or not, the 4.5 million annual visitors to Sedona come here because of the …

Continue Reading about Sedona’s Geologic Story – Introduction

Prelude to the Red Rocks

Before we begin to understand Sedona’s red rocks, let’s have a look at what lies beneath them, the …

Continue Reading about Prelude to the Red Rocks

Sedona’s Red Rocks, Part 1

The famous red rocks in and around Sedona are, for the most part, the same layers that make up the …

Continue Reading about Sedona’s Red Rocks, Part 1

Sedona’s Red Rocks, Part 2

Next is the Hermit Formation (formerly called Hermit Shale), which contains more amounts of mudstone …

Continue Reading about Sedona’s Red Rocks, Part 2

Continued Deposition, Uplift, and Erosion

Although rocks of dinosaur age are not present in the Sedona area today, geologists believe that …

Continue Reading about Continued Deposition, Uplift, and Erosion

House Mountain Volcano

Beginning about 15 million years ago, volcanism returned to the Sedona area in the form of basaltic …

Continue Reading about House Mountain Volcano

Creation of the Verde Valley and Verde Lake

If someone were hiking in the Sedona area 10 million years ago, they would see the Sedona red rocks …

Continue Reading about Creation of the Verde Valley and Verde Lake

Carving Oak Creek Canyon

Oak Creek Canyon, although not as deeply cut as Grand Canyon, is still a very pleasant place to hike …

Continue Reading about Carving Oak Creek Canyon

Footer

Copyright © 1998–2023 · Hit the Trail: Phantom Ranch, Grand Canyon, Sedona and the Southwest

All Rights Reserved · All photos credit NPS unless stated otherwise

Newsletter

Sign up for email updates. You can stop at any time and your information will never be shared.

  • Contact
  • About
  • Sitemap
  • Affiliate Disclaimer