6Arches National Park. Bryce Canyon. Zion. When one thinks of Utah, it�s rocks and iconic landforms�preserved in a nearly endless list of national parks and monuments�come immediately to mind. Perhaps more so than any other state, Utah is built for geologic exploration, and geologists/authors Felicie Williams, Lucy Chronic, and Halka Chronic are its expert tour guides.
The Beehive State is splitting at the seams with wondrous geological contrast. Utah�s high mountains, showcasing the results of what happens as the Earth bends, folds, and breaks itself apart, run like a backbone down the center of the state. To the east, the Colorado Plateau�s flat-lying sedimentary rock is wondrously exposed in canyons, arches, and breaks. To the west is the immense Great Basin, a region characterized by rank upon rank of long, narrow, gaunt mountain ranges alternating with desert basins that are among the flattest surfaces on Earth.
Roadside Geology of Utah�s 65 road guides traverse the state�s major thoroughfares as well as its dusty, sleepy, winding two-lane highways. With fresh prose and more than 300 color photos, maps, and figures to boot, you too will become expert at reading Utah�s rocks.