El Malpais - the Sandstone Bluffs Overlook

This view looking is south from the Sandstone Bluffs Overlook in El Malpais National Monument. Mount Taylor, with an elevation of 11,301 feet above sea level, lies in the distance. Mount Taylor is a large composite volcano that formed about 2.5 million years ago. It is part of a larger volcanic field (Crumpler, 1990; Crumpler and Aubele, 2001). The Sandstone Bluffs consist of gently dipping Jurassic and Cretaceous sandstone that crops out along the eastern flank of the Cebollita Mesa on the eastern margin of the park. Forests partly mask dark, Quaternary lava flows in the valley.