slot canyons
Tight desert passages
Slot canyons are extremely narrow gorges carved by water through rock, typically sandstone.
The walls may rise hundreds of feet while the passage between them stays just a few feet wide—sometimes barely shoulder-width.
They form over millennia as flash floods scour through cracks in the rock.
The American Southwest is famous for them: We hiked Antelope Canyon at midday when the light shafts hit the floor.
- narrowsConstricted water passage
- sinuousCurving in flowing turns
- erosionGradual wearing away
- creviceNarrow opening in surface
- sandstoneCemented grain sediment
sculpted · Colorado Plateau · meander · flash floods · flash flood warning · rappelling · snaking · twisting · stemming · tight squeeze · carving · gorges · ravines · sandstone formations · Southwest · Utah · red rock · golden light
- outdoor activitieshiking, kayak rental, biking, camping, camping trip
- Southwest Activitieshorseback riding, rodeo, ballooning, hot air ballooning, desert tours
- valleysdales, alpine valley, vales, glacial valley, glens
- American geologyYellowstone, Rocky Mountains, Appalachians, Sierra Nevada, Cascade Range
- Canyon Geologybuttes, mesas, cliffs, arches, spires
- Colorado DesertCoachella Valley, Colorado River, cholla, barrel cactus, bighorn sheep
slot canyonsopen valleys
Wide depressions between hills
open plains · prairies · savannas · steppes · box canyons
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