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Roxborough State Park


Roxborough State Park
Photo Information
Copyright: Paul Gana (PaulGana) Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Note Writer [C: 103 W: 3 N: 184] (750)
Genre: Landscapes
Medium: Color
Date Taken: 2007-07-19
Categories: Mountain
Camera: Canon EOS 400D (Rebel XTi), Canon 18-55mm EF-S f/3.5-5.6
Exposure: f/5.0, 1/80 seconds
Details: Tripod: Yes
More Photo Info: [view]
Photo Version: Original Version
Date Submitted: 2008-04-10 10:15
Viewed: 1186
Points: 8
[Note Guidelines] Photographer's Note
Roxborough State Park is in south west Denver metro.

Roxborough State Park is a designated Colorado Natural Area, National Cultural District and National Natural Landmark and is located along the foothills of the Rocky Mountains in the ecotone between plains grassland and Front Range forest communities. The park encompasses 3,329 acres with elevation ranging from 5,900 to 7,280 feet above sea level. Willow Creek, Little Willow Creek and Mill Gulch are the primary drainages in the park. Dramatic Hogbacks, Spires and Monoliths encompass the landscape.

The most striking feature for visitors to Roxborough is the dramatic Fountain Formation. This spectacular tilted sandstone began over 300 million years ago with the gradual erosion of the Ancestral Rocky Mountains. Today these red sandstones stand beautifully at Roxborugh at a sixty degree angle and are the result of millions of years of uplift and erosion.

There are excellent examples of exposed geology from the Precambrian to Late Mesozoic, including hogbacks of Cretaceous, Permian, and Pennsylvanian age. Erosion of steeply dipping monoclinal sedimentary sections has resulted in the series of three major hogbacks and strike valleys, exposing highly scenic dipping plates, spires and monoliths. Precambrian gneiss and biotite-muscovite granite are exposed on Carpenter Peak.

Carpenter Peak
The westernmost hogback is Paleozoic Age Fountain Formation sandstone, originating from an accumulation of sediments that eroded from the Ancestral Rocky Mountains. It is conspicuously red due to oxidation of iron minerals. The central hogback is Permian Age Lyons Formation, which formed from windblown sand and stream deposits following erosion of the Ancestral Rocky Mountains. The easternmost hogback, Cretaceous Age Dakota Sandstone, is composed of Lytle Formation floodplain deposits and Platte Formation beach and shallow ocean deposits.

This photo was taken on a stormy summer day. These sandstone formations are similar to Red Rocks in west Denver and Garden of the Gods in Colorado Sprins
vanderschelden, LordPotty has marked this note useful
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Critiques [Translate]

Hi Paul
It is a superb photograph of landscape I like the compo and the landscape in him even
Continue
Friendly
Cyber-Rayder

Hello Paul,
Okay in any form but this is awesome...
The words in your note are really -at least for me-stuff for geology guys. Done by any means, I believe. Even the wind.
TFS
Annick

NOw that IS rugged!
You couldn't get more ruggeder than that.
I guess since this is sandstone,there wouldn't be any caves of any size (just interested,being a cave man myself)
A stunning shot anyhow.
Cheers
Steve

Hello Paul,

Beautiful picture of this amazing landscape. Excellent DOF and sharpness. Lovely colours.
Cheers,
Mariki

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