SYNCLINE IN CORE OF LOCKHART BASIN, near Needles Overlook. Dish-shaped roof is Wingate Sandstone, partly bleached; sloping sides are Chinle Formation; dark sloping ledge at left middle ground is Moss Back Member of Chinle resting on Moenkopi Formation. Photograph by E. N. Hinrichs. (Fig. 28)
U-3 LOOP
Two and a half miles farther north, or about 2 miles south of Anticline Overlook, a short road leads to the west and entirely around a small conical butte of the Navajo Sandstone. This new circular drive has not yet been formally named and is simply called the U-3 loop, as designated in the surveyor’s notebook. It affords splendid views to the west and is to be equipped with picnic tables. Looking west ([fig. 29]) we see a W-shaped loop of the Colorado River, Dead Horse Point on the right skyline, and Island in the Sky on the distant skyline. The strata curving over Shafer dome appear in the right middle background.
VIEW WESTWARD FROM U-3 LOOP. Dead Horse Point on right skyline, Island in the Sky capped by Navajo Sandstone in extreme distance, Kayenta Formation in foreground at left. Cliffs topping ridge at left are Wingate Sandstone protected by caprock of the Kayenta Formation; red slopes beneath cliffs are Chinle Formation, with dark ledge of Moss Back Member at base; steep slopes and ledges beneath are Moenkopi Formation, lower part of which is Hoskinnini Tongue; reddish gentle slopes below are Cutler Formation; nearly flat benches above Colorado River are Rico Formation, with Shafer limestone at top. (Fig. 29)
ANTICLINE OVERLOOK
Two more miles takes us to Anticline Overlook for the most sublime views in this part of the area. To the north ([fig. 30]) we look across the northeast flank of the Cane Creek anticline, an upfold of the rocks (figs. [13], [14]). Hurrah Pass straddles the narrow wall separating the Colorado River and its canyon at the left from Kane Springs Canyon on the right. The Colorado River appears again in the right background, where it leaves Moab Valley. The Kings Bottom syncline, or downfold ([fig. 26]), seen in the middle distance between the Cane Creek anticline and the Moab anticline, exposes a wide area of the Navajo Sandstone. The ridge on the right skyline, composed of the Entrada Sandstone, is The Windows Section of Arches National Park, and the left skyline shows faintly the distant Book Cliffs.
On the east wall of Kane Springs Canyon just to the right of [figure 30] is the Atomic King mine in the Cutler Formation, from which uranium ore has been mined at intervals during the last 2 or 3 years.
LOOKING NORTH FROM ANTICLINE OVERLOOK, across axis of Cane Creek anticline. Unimproved road crosses Hurrah Pass in foreground. Colorado River at left is near Potash and in right background is at Moab. For description of strata, see caption for [figure 31]. (Fig. 30)