Next is the Hermit Formation (formerly called Hermit Shale), which contains more amounts of mudstone than sandstone and thus weathers into a broad terrace upon which much of the city of Sedona is constructed. Many of the easy or moderate trails …
Continued Deposition, Uplift, and Erosion
Although rocks of dinosaur age are not present in the Sedona area today, geologists believe that they were once present here. No less than 5,000 feet of this younger strata and perhaps as much as 10,000 feet was once present here before it was eroded …
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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 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 …
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Carving Oak Creek Canyon
Oak Creek Canyon, although not as deeply cut as Grand Canyon, is still a very pleasant place to hike with many trails leaving the canyon floor and accessing the rim on either side of it. One will note that Oak Creek Canyon is asymmetrical in …