Day Seven - Goblin Valley

Did you ever see the movie “Galaxy Quest”? If so, do you remember the scene where the crew was in a rock-strewn valley and got attacked by Stone Monsters? Some of those scenes were filmed in Goblin Valley State Park which is in between Arches and Capitol Reef. Often called Hoo Doo’s by scientists, in this park these unusual shapes are referred to as “Goblins”. And they certainly do create a “goblinesque” spooky feeling while exploring them.


The geologic erosion process in this area is a bit unusual in that spheroidal weathering causes these rounded, and seemingly sculpted, “goblins” from the Entrada layer of sandstone which has softer layers of silt and shale.






You can wander into narrow cracks of the sandstone cliffs which are topped by the goblins. 






Nearer to the valley floor you can see how the water erodes vertical cracks in the golden-red sandstone. It almost looks like dripping candlewax in places.









We camped in a BLM dry campsite on the north side of the park in Little Wild Horse Canyon. The goblins on that side of the cliffs are not quite as pronounced, but the cliff behind us was topped with them. We couldn’t help but wonder what an insurance adjustor would say if a boulder fell on the truck and we reported, “We were attacked by goblins!”


Our stay under the goblins was a memorable one. 

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