The area surrounding the confluence of the Colorado and Green Rivers is at the center of the Colorado Plateau Province. This geological wonder encompasses 140,000 square miles, blankets the Four Corners region, and is marked with large monoclines and laccolithic mountains. The semi-arid desert, also described as a rock jungle, is loaded with thousands of mesas, buttes, spires, towers, natural bridges and arches. A landscape stripped of topsoil and vegetation allows these dramatic, fanciful shapes to fill a 360 degree, head-swiveling view. The majority of outcroppings are composed of almost pure quartz, cemented together by infiltrated iron oxide. It's these oxides that give the rocks their distinct earth-tone hues.
     In this crisp Arches National Park view, gravity defying red rock formations are on display. With the park's high elevation, the air is thin and clear, ensuring a well-defined look at Rocks in the Sky. Here at Arches, one of Travel Channel's top ten parks in America, the distant snow capped La Sal peaks and the Utah sky paint a perfect ice-blue backdrop for this desert scene.