American Fork Canyon, Utah
Steven Dutch, Professor Emeritus, Natural and Applied Sciences, Universityof Wisconsin - Green Bay
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The spectacular American Fork Canyon north of Provo, Utah is best
seen from the trail to Timpanogos Cave National Monument. The highway
is narrow and lacks good scenic turnouts. This is a somewhat dangerous area. Rockfalls from the canyon wall can and do kill people. |
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Along this trail you will hike past seven geologic formations
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Unlike a lot of trails that have shallow gradients that wear you out with an endless slight climb, this one has a moderate grade that gains altitude quickly without being overly difficult. |
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Looking west down the canyon. |
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North wall of the canyon. |
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Looking east up the canyon. |
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View up toward the caves. The discoverer of the caves said he found
them while cutting timber, but who'd log on a slope like this using
19th century methods? The widespread suspicion is that he was prospecting. Nothing wrong with that, but saying so would invite other people to start looking, too. |
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This was an off-season hike, and because the rockfall traps were
open, we all had to wear hard hats. Note the cleavage in the quartzite. |
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Tunnel on the trail. |
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Cross-bedding in quartzite. |
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Quartzite outcrop. |
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Cleavage in quartzite |
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Looking west out the canyon. |
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Slaty cleavage in Ophir Shale |
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Left and below: slickensides in limestone. |
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Fitchville Dolomite is extensively veined and fractured. |
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This is not an idle warning. |
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Left and below: a small thrust fault. |
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Below. Most geology texts have pictures of trees bent at the base by soil creep. These may be among the record holders. |
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Fractured and veined dolomite. |
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Looking up at the cave entrance. |
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Brecciated Fitchville Dolomite |
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Not for those with acrophobia. |
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The cave entrance is ahead above us. |
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When they say rockfall danger, they aren't kidding. |
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Left and below: a few views in the caves. There are actually three small caves, connected by artificial passages. |
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Left and below: views from the exit trail/ |
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Entrance to the caves from the exit trail. |
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One of the rockfall traps above the trail. These are closed during tourist season and opened to dump rocks when the trail is empty, but during the off season they're open. |
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Liesgang rings on quartzite. |
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Created 18 November 2005, Last Update 07 June 2020