COLORADO PLATEAU

The Colorado Plateau? What's THAT?

     The Colorado Plateau is a massive, high-up region in the American Southwest that looks like nature’s giant layer cake — wide, flat, and stacked with colorful rock layers that have been shaped by millions of years of wind and water. Its 130,000 square miles covers parts of four states: Utah, Arizona, New Mexico, and Colorado.     

Unlike nearby mountain ranges that got all twisted and crumpled as Earth forces raised them, the land in the Colorado Plateau rose almost evenly like the lifting of a big, flat table. What "plateau" means is a raised, flat area. But over time, rivers (especially the Colorado River) carved the Grand Canyon and other deep canyons,  arches, and cliffs into that flat rock, exposing all those bright layers you see today.

The Colorado Plateau is where you'll find some of America's most famous natural wonders: the Grand Canyon, Monument Valley, Bryce Canyon, Zion, and Arches. These places are all part of this same plateau — they look different depending on how erosion wore away the rock.

In short:

• The Colorado Plateau is a big, high, mostly flat chunk of land.
• It's made of stacked rock layers that are millions of years old.
• Rivers and weather carved those layers into the stunning shapes we see today.
• It's home to more national parks than any other region in the U.S. outside Washington, DC.

So even if you haven't heard of the Colorado Plateau, chances are you've seen pictures of it — it's where much of the iconic "Wild West" landscape comes from.