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Goblin Valley State Park, Utah
Mother Nature’s weirdest sculpture garden is hiding in southern Utah. Specifically, in Emery County near Green River, UT.
It’s called Goblin Valley, and those are actually hoodoos. They were shaped by millions of years of wind and water wearing away at the Entrada Sandstone. Cowboys first found this area while looking for their cattle in the 1920s, and it became a state park in 1964.
The Valley Once Lay Under an Ancient Sea
A vast ocean called the Sundance Sea covered this valley 170 million years ago during the Jurassic Period. The sea left behind layers of sand and sediment that eventually hardened into the rock formations visitors see today. The harder layers of rock protect the softer stone underneath, creating the mushroom-like shapes.
Scientists regularly find fossils of ancient sea creatures here, including oysters and brachiopods from the Jurassic era. The different minerals in the rock layers create distinct stripes of red, orange, and brown, with iron giving the rocks their reddish color.
Prime Stargazing
Since March 2016, Goblin Valley has held the title of International Dark Sky Park, making it one of just 59 such parks worldwide at the time. Its remote location, 12 miles from the nearest town, means the night sky stays remarkably clear. When there’s no moon, you can spot over thousands of stars and easily see the bright band of the Milky Way.
To maintain its dark sky status, the park has implemented strict lighting ordinances and educational programming. During nighttime programs, park staff use red flashlights to help visitors’ eyes stay adjusted to the dark.
The Local Wildlife is Just as Cool
The Great Basin spadefoot toad showcases amazing survival skills, staying underground for up to eight years between rains. Desert rabbits and kangaroo rats get most of their water from plants instead of drinking it directly. Kit foxes hunt at night when it’s cooler, while side-blotched lizards change their skin color to control their body temperature.
Seven types of bats, including the distinctive Townsend’s big-eared bat, make their homes in the rock cracks. Golden eagles and ravens ride warm air currents between the rock formations, often building nests on high cliffs.
Desert Plants Use Special Tactics to Survive
A living crust of tiny organisms covers much of the ground, including bacteria, lichens, and mosses that can handle temperatures from -40°F to 150°F. This delicate crust takes between 50 and 250 years to form fully and helps keep the soil in place.
Mormon tea plants send their roots 25 feet down to find water, while barrel cacti can store up to 200 gallons. Spring rains bring bursts of color as Indian paintbrush, evening primrose, and globe mallow bloom among the rocks. These plants have special features like waxy coatings and tiny leaves to save water.
Rock Layers Tell Stories from Deep Time
The rock layers in the park’s hoodoos formed about 170 million years ago, with each stripe representing roughly a million years of history. Darker bands show times when the sediment contained more iron. The hard rock “caps” contain more limestone material, making them ten times stronger than the “necks” below.
These differences in hardness mean each hoodoo loses about an inch of rock every hundred years. The landscape began taking its current shape about a million years ago when earth movements pushed the rocks upward.
Summer Storms Create Powerful Flash Floods
Heavy rainstorms can dump more than two inches of rain in under an hour on the park’s smooth rock surfaces. The water rushes into narrow canyons, creating powerful floods that reshape the valley. Wild Horse Creek can change from dry to dangerous in just 15 minutes, carrying enough water to fill 1,000 bathtubs every second.
These floods carve new paths through the rock and sometimes knock down formations that have stood for thousands of years. Park staff watch rain gauges and weather radar carefully to warn visitors about possible floods.
The Rock Formations Create Unusual Sound Effects
The curved surfaces of the hoodoos can bounce sound in surprising ways, similar to curved mirrors reflecting light. In some spots, you can whisper and be heard clearly meters away.
The dense sandstone carries low, deep sounds especially well, creating spots where certain sounds seem to hang in the air. These strange sound effects happen because of the way the curved rock surfaces reflect sound waves back and forth.
The Area Contains Rich Native American History
Archaeologists have found more than 40 prehistoric sites in the park, including rock art that’s between 2,000 and 8,000 years old. They’ve discovered arrowheads, broken pottery, and grinding stones used by ancient hunters and gatherers.
The Fremont and ancestral Puebloan peoples likely used the distinctive rock formations as landmarks for navigation. Several sites show evidence of temporary camps where early residents processed pine nuts and prepared game animals. Charcoal from old campfires proves people have used this area continuously for at least 6,000 years.
Safety Rules Protect the Soft Rock Formations
The park’s sandstone measures only 500-1,000 pounds per square inch in strength, while granite reaches 19,000 psi. This softness means climbing equipment and ropes can easily damage the rock.
Visitors can climb without gear on marked formations under 10 feet tall. The park bans climbing anchors and chalk to prevent lasting marks on the rock surfaces. Rangers check popular climbing spots regularly for signs of wear or unstable areas.
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