Part of Cathedral Gorge, Nevada.
Part 8. Cathedral Gorge
| Cathedral Gorge State Park is a little-known place
at the southern edge of Great Basin Desert, in southeastern Nevada. This little
wonder is less than two hours' drive from Las Vegas, but it is almost unknown
outside the area. |
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| Views from the northern rim of the
canyon. |
Overlook of the main canyon. |
The canyon was formed in soft clay with thin layers
of sandstone. As the clay was eroded away, sandstone layers formed umbrella-like
caps of hodoos (clay obelisks, above), and flat bottoms of side canyons
(below). |
Clay is soft and slightly flexible. |
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| Clay formations in side canyons,
Cathedral Gorge. |
Side Canyon, Cathedral Gorge. |
The most unique feature of the Gorge is its side
canyons. As you walk into them, they get increasingly deep and narrow, often less
than one foot (30 cm) wide, but up to 100 m (330') deep. Soon, their vertical
walls begin to touch overhead. These dark upper ends of canyons are locally called
"caves", and usually lead to dead end chambers, formed by tiny waterfalls
during flash floods. |
Side Canyon, Cathedral Gorge. |
View from a "cave". |
Upper part of a side canyon. |
Cul-de-sac at the end of a side canyon.. |
Side Canyon, Cathedral Gorge. |
"Caves" of Cathedral Gorge are filled
with weird pink light, and are very beautiful. I am not aware of such a place
anywhere else in the world, except for a similar, but much smaller and less spectacular
canyon network in a remote part of Takla Makan Desert, China.
Cathedral Gorge. |
Side Canyon, Cathedral Gorge. |
Part 9. Sand Dunes
Back to Part 7
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