r. W a y. L o o p. Gateway Road. Ridge Road. Qa. Kn. Kcgg. Kd. Jmr. TRPl. Ply. P&f. Quaternary Alluvium (Upper Holoc
Garden of the Gods Geology
E X P LA N AT I O N
Quaternary Alluvium (Upper Holocene) Niobrara Formation (Upper Cretaceous) Colorado Group, undifferentiated (Upper Cretaceous) Dakota Sandstone (Lower Cretaceous) Morrison and Ralston Creek Formations (Upper Jurassic) Lykins Formation (Lower Triassic and Upper Permian) Lyons Sandstone (Permian) Fountain Formation (Lower Permian to Middle Pennsylvanian)
Qa Kn Kcgg Kd Jmr TRPl Ply P&f
LEGEND Hiking Trail
Paved Road
Disabled Accessible Trail
4WD Road
Parking Area Disabled Parking Area
ay Gatew
d oa
Road
et
Stre
op ay L o er W
30th
ip Jun
Gard e
nD riv
e
Ra m pa rt Ra ng e
4W
D
R
Visitor Center
Rock Ledge Ranch Historic Site
Ridg e Roa
Garden of the Gods Trading Post
Y 24
e
El Paso Blvd.
rs Lan
Becke
. HW U.S
d
Lan e
Garden
Drive
Ga rde n
E X P LA N AT I O N Map Units
Qa
Quaternary Alluvium (Upper Holocene) Geologically recent deposits of streamwash gravel, sand, and clay in the valley bottoms of Rock Ledge Ranch and between the eastern hogbacks. It is approximately 15' deep and is overlain by soil and vegetation.
Kn
Niobrara Formation (Upper Cretaceous) Comprises the easternmost hogback of the Garden of the Gods and consists of two members: Kns, the Smoky Hill Shale Member, yellowish-orange to brown shale interbedded with thin gray chalk beds about 400ft thick, on the east side of the hogback and underlain by the Knf, Fort Hays Limestone Member, gray, hard limestone beds separated by thin shale partings. Inoceramus clams, sharks teeth, and segmented plant stems are common. 50ft thick.
Ply Lyons Sandstone (Permian) Upper white and lower red massive, well-sorted, fineto medium-grained, cross-bedded and well-cemented quartzose sandstone uplifted vertically to form the huge fins and walls of Gateway Rocks and the Kissing Camels. Frosted sand grains and cross-bedding indicates deposition in the Great Western Dunefields of the Pangean coast. 700 - 800ft thick.
P&f Fountain Fm (Lower Permian to Middle Pennsylvanian) Reddish-brown, arkosic conglomerate and pebbly sandstone containing thin layers of dark, reddishbrown shales deposited in high-energy outwash plains from the eroding red granite Ancestral Rockies. Forms the prominent red ridges, spires, and monuments of the western Garden of the Gods (Siamese Twins, Balanced Rock, Steamboat Rock). Thickness estimated at over 4000ft.
Kcgg Colorado Group, undifferentiated (Upper Cretaceous) The uppermost member of the Carlile Shale, the Codell Sandstone is observed as a massive lightbrown sandstone bed that edges the west slope of the Niobrara hogback. The rest of the Colorado Group, formerly known as the Benton Group, is occaisionally exposed on the trails in the valley west of this ridge. It is much easier to see in the road cut south of Hwy 24 at 31st street. Reading east to west, the Colorado Group consists of the interbedded shale, sandstone, and limestone of the Carlile Shale, the middle Greenhorn Limestone, and the lower gray to black Graneros Shale. Total thickness 350 feet.
Kd
Correlation of Map Units
Qa
QUATERNARY
Dakota Sandstone (Lower Cretaceous) Yellowish-brown, fine-grained, cross-bedded sandstone suggesting deposition in near-shore river estuaries and tidal flats. It is a 300ft thick sequence of resistant rock that forms a series of prominent hogbacks in the Garden of the Gods. The Dakota Sandstone achieves greater expression north of the Park along 30th Street.
Jmr Morrison and Ralston Creek Formations (Upper Jurassic) Varicolored gray, purple, and green siltstone, claystone, and thinly interbedded brown and yellowish-gray sandstone and conglomerate. The lower Ralston Creek Formation is a light reddish-brown sequence of sandstone, shale, limestone, and interbedded folds of gypsum and alabaster seen on the eastern flank of the Lykins walls. The Jmr makes up the incompetent, easily-weathered rock of the valley between the Dakota and Lyons hogbacks. Combined thickness of 220ft.
TRPl Lykins Formation (Lower Triassic and Upper Permian) Observed in the Garden of the Gods as the white wavy-laminated "crinkly" limestone walls, 12 to 20ft thick running parallel and just east of the Gateway Rocks.
TERTIARY
Kp Kn
CRETACEOUS
Kcgg Kcgg Kd Jmr JURASSIC UNCONFORMITY
Pl Ply P f
TRIASSIC PERMIAN PENNSYLVANIAN
