Ship Rock, New Mexico
Steven Dutch, Professor Emeritus, Natural and Applied Sciences, Universityof Wisconsin - Green Bay
Ship Rock is a famous "volcanic neck" just south of Farmington, NM. It is not visible from the Four Corners monument but is visible from Mesa Verde, Colorado. US 666 is now US 491, a sop to the superstitious and Biblically ignorant, who are unaware that in Revelation, 666 is the number of a man, not a highway.
The prominent ridge in the southeast corner of the map is not an igneous feature at all, but a hogback, a ridge of steeply upturned, resistant sedimentary rocks.
Best access is via a paved tribal road that intersects US 666/491 about 10 km south of Farmington. Myriad dirt roads lead to the base of the rock. It's difficult to get lost since heading south will take you to the tribal road and heading east will take you to 491/666.
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Views of Ship Rock from US 666/491 |
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Looking South along US 666/491. Below: Views of the large dike extending south from Ship Rock. |
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Left and below: approaching Ship Rock on the tribal road. |
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Left and below: The large dike extends right to the tribal road and even a bit beyond. |
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Left and below: The iconic views of Ship Rock are from the south. |
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The large dike. The rock is an amphibolite lamprophyre. The neck is actually the remnant of a diatreme, not a volcanic cone. |
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The large dike south of the tribal road. |
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Left and below: There are many small alkalic intrusions in the Four Corners region, most not as prominent as Ship Rock. Several are visible from Ship Rock. |
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Created 22 July 2012, Last Update 09 June 2020