Natural Bridges - the Bears Ears

This view shows the Bears Ears in the Manti LaSal National Forest to the northeast of Natural Bridges National Monument. The Bears Ears consist of erosional remnants of the Wingate Sandstone. The Wingate Sandstone is a massive cliff-forming sandstone deposited in ancient sand dune environments that covered much of the Colorado Plateau Region in Early Jurassic time (Huntoon and others, 2000; NPS, 2006). The Wingate Sandstone forms prominent escarpments across the Colorado Plateau. It forms massive cliffs throughout Canyonlands and Capitol Reef National Parks. In the foreground, mixed pinyon, juniper, and Gambel oak forests cover the mesa top created by the dense and erosionally resistant slickrock of the Cedar Mesa Sandstone.