Goosenecks State Park
For a spectacular view that you can literally drive right up to, Goosenecks State Park was a great side trip.
Peering over the canyon edge, we saw 1000 feet down to the San Juan River flowing with chunks of ice. The unusual snake-like route of the river was cut over 300 million years by the geologic phenomenon known as an entrenched meander. When the area was an open plain at the same level as the top of the canyon, the stream-like beginnings of the San Juan River cut shallow meanders into the plain, as had occurred with many small surface rivers around the world. However, this particular river continued cutting downward through the sandstone and did not break through a path of increasing curves into straightened paths. So the unusual feature kept growing and growing straight downward, and continues to this day.
San Juan River flowing through canyon in Goosenecks State Park
Snow covered ridges in canyon eroded away by the San Juan River
Millions of years of snow covered geology at Goosenecks State Park