Next Stop Cathedral Gorge State Park

Next Stop Cathedral Gorge State Park – Made of bentonite clay. We just happened to stumble apon this state park as we arrived in Nevada. A must see place if you are ever in the area.

A beautiful landscape of spires and buff-colored cliffs. The beauty enjoyed today had violent beginnings, starting with explosive volcanic activity that, with each eruption, deposited layers of ash hundreds of feet thick.

after the eruptions ceased, block faulting, a fracture in the bedrock that allows the two sides to move opposite each other, shaped the mountains and valleys prevalent in Nevada today. This faulting formed a depression, now known as Meadow Valley.

Over time the depression filled with water creating a freshwater lake. Continual rains eroded the exposed ash and pumice left from the volcanic activity, and the streams carried the eroded sediment into the newly formed lake.

The formations, made of silt, clay and volcanic ash, are the remnants of that lake. As the landscape changed and more block faulting occurred, water drained from the lake exposing the volcanic ash sediments to the wind and rain, causing erosion of the soft material called bentonite clay.

Wind and water erode rocks and soils at a rapid rate and vegetation cannot grow on the outcroppings. The vegetation-free slopes stand in stark contrast to the valley floor where primrose and Indian ricegrass hold small sand dunes in place.

These mountains of clay are so unique, if you tap on the side of them they sound hollow inside.

Next Stop Cathedral Gorge State Park

Sandra J