The Bears Ears.
The two buttes rising above Elk Ridge on the skyline are called the Bears Ears. If you have ever looked at a bear at all closely, you may wonder why the buttes are called Bears Ears. Well, we wonder about that sometimes, too, for they don’t look at all like the ears of a bear. “Bears Ears” is the officially approved name, but that name was bestowed by someone looking at the buttes from another angle. Seen from one point of view, physical features may appear completely different than from another point of view. Ideas are like that, too, in many cases. If we can look at things (including ideas) from a different point of view, we may better understand them.
So, we have tried to arrange this Guide in a way that allows you to experiment with a few things that you did not intend to do. The great majority of visitors here drive in, look at the three bridges and then drive out. You can still do that, of course, but this booklet suggests some additional things which we hope will add to your enjoyment of the Monument.
The first stop along the road is 1.4 miles from here.
2 1.4 (1.4) Sphinx Rock
This is another of those different point of view things. The guy who named this was looking at it from upper White Canyon. From that point of view (the opposite of yours) the resemblance to ancient Egyptian figures make the name quite reasonable, whereas from this side it makes no sense at all.
The light-colored, nearly white rock all over the place is Cedar Mesa Sandstone, a relatively hard, fine-grained rock. Scattered through it are thin layers of dark red shale rock which is much softer because it contains a lot of muddy silt. The softer red beds erode, or wear away, much more quickly than the hard white rock.
The long black or dark streaks on the rocks are desert varnish, a common occurrence here which we’ll explain at a [later stop].
Sphinx Rock