Oak Creek Canyon is a river
gorgeA canyon or gorge is a deep ravine between cliffs often carved from the landscape by a river. Rivers have a natural tendency to reach a baseline elevation, which is the same elevation as the body of water it will eventually drain into. This forms a canyon. Most canyons were formed by a process of...
located along the
Mogollon RimThe Mogollon Rim is a topographical and geological feature running across the U.S. state of Arizona. It extends approximately from northern Yavapai County eastward to near the border with New Mexico.-Description:...
in northern
ArizonaArizona ; is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. It is also part of the western United States and the mountain west. The capital and largest city is Phoenix...
located between the cities of
FlagstaffFlagstaff is a city located in northern Arizona, in the southwestern United States. In 2010, the city's population was 65,870. The population of the Metropolitan Statistical Area was at 134,421 in 2010. It is the county seat of Coconino County...
and
SedonaSedona is a city that straddles the county line between Coconino and Yavapai counties in the northern Verde Valley region of the U.S. state of Arizona...
. The canyon is often described as a smaller cousin of the
Grand CanyonThe Grand Canyon is a steep-sided canyon carved by the Colorado River in the United States in the state of Arizona. It is largely contained within the Grand Canyon National Park, the 15th national park in the United States...
because of its scenic beauty. State Route 89A enters the canyon on its north end via a series of
hairpin turnA hairpin turn , named for its resemblance to a hairpin/bobby pin, is a bend in a road with a very acute inner angle, making it necessary for an oncoming vehicle to turn almost 180° to continue on the road. Such turns in ramps and trails may be called switchbacks in American English, by analogy...
s before traversing the bottom of the canyon for about 13 miles (20.8 kilometers) until the highway enters the town of Sedona. The Oak Creek Canyon-Sedona area is the second most popular tourist destination in Arizona, second only to the Grand Canyon.
Geography
Oak Creek Canyon is about 12 miles (19.2 km) long and ranges in width from 0.8 to 2.5 miles (1.3 to 4 km). The depth of the canyon ranges from 800-2,000 feet (240 to 600 meters). However, due to the
faultIn geology, a fault is a planar fracture or discontinuity in a volume of rock, across which there has been significant displacement along the fractures as a result of earth movement. Large faults within the Earth's crust result from the action of tectonic forces...
ing that played a major role in the formation of Oak Creek Canyon, the west rim of the canyon is 700 feet (210 meters) higher than the east rim. The average elevation of the west rim is 7,200 feet (2,160 meters) while the east rim elevation is 6,500 feet (1,950 m)
Oak Creek, a tributary of the
Verde RiverThe Verde River is the north and northwestern watershed of the Salt River–Verde River Watershed that co-join and enter the Gila River at Phoenix, Arizona, located in the U.S. state of Arizona...
, flows along the bottom of the canyon and is one of the few perennial streams in the
high desertHigh desert refers to the inland and often high elevation deserts of the American West. Examples of high deserts in North America include the Great Basin Desert and the Mojave Desert.High desert can also mean:...
region of northern Arizona. Oak Creek is largely responsible for carving the modern Oak Creek Canyon although movement along the Oak Creek Fault, a 30 mile (48 km) long north-south normal fault line, is thought to have played a role as well.
Below Sedona, Oak Creek enters more open country. It meanders past the communities of Page Springs and
Cornville, ArizonaCornville is a census-designated place in Yavapai County, Arizona, United States. The population was 3,335 at the 2000 census. The Cornville CDP includes the communities of Cornville and Page Springs....
, and reaches its
confluenceConfluence, in geography, describes the meeting of two or more bodies of water.Confluence may also refer to:* Confluence , a property of term rewriting systems...
with the
Verde RiverThe Verde River is the north and northwestern watershed of the Salt River–Verde River Watershed that co-join and enter the Gila River at Phoenix, Arizona, located in the U.S. state of Arizona...
about 6 miles (10 km) southeast of
Cottonwood, ArizonaCottonwood is a city in Yavapai County, Arizona, United States. According to 2006 Census Bureau estimates, the population of the city is 11,171.-Geography:Cottonwood is located at ....
.
In June 2006, the southern portion of the canyon, near
Slide Rock State ParkSlide Rock State Park is a state park of Arizona, USA, taking its name from a natural water slide formed by the slippery bed of Oak Creek. The park is located in Oak Creek Canyon north of Sedona. Slide Rock State Park is located on Coconino National Forest land and is co-managed by the Arizona...
, was affected by a 4,300 acre (17.4 square km) wildfire known as the "Brins Fire".
Geology
Geologic evidence suggests the formation of an ancestral Oak Creek Canyon along the Oak Creek Fault about eight to ten million years ago. The ancestral Oak Creek Canyon was then filled in by gravel deposits and a series of lava flows between six and eight mya during the
MioceneThe Miocene is a geological epoch of the Neogene Period and extends from about . The Miocene was named by Sir Charles Lyell. Its name comes from the Greek words and and means "less recent" because it has 18% fewer modern sea invertebrates than the Pliocene. The Miocene follows the Oligocene...
Epoch. About this time, the Oak Creek Fault became active again and the modern Oak Creek Canyon began to develop along the fault zone as a result of the erosional action of Oak Creek. The normal, down-to-the-east motion of the Oak Creek Fault during the most recent faulting period resulted in the west rim of the canyon being about 700 feet (210 meters) higher than the east rim.
The spectacularly eroded walls of the canyon are formed mostly of
PaleozoicThe Paleozoic era is the earliest of three geologic eras of the Phanerozoic eon, spanning from roughly...
sedimentary rockSedimentary rock are types of rock that are formed by the deposition of material at the Earth's surface and within bodies of water. Sedimentation is the collective name for processes that cause mineral and/or organic particles to settle and accumulate or minerals to precipitate from a solution....
s. Exposures of the
Kaibab LimestoneThe Kaibab is a geologic formation that is spread across the U.S. states of northern Arizona, southern Utah, east central Nevada and southeast California. This geologic unit is part of the Park City Group in Nevada and Utah and is sometimes locally classified as a geologic group in Utah...
(the
geologic formationA formation or geological formation is the fundamental unit of lithostratigraphy. A formation consists of a certain number of rock strata that have a comparable lithology, facies or other similar properties...
found at the South Rim of the Grand Canyon) and the Toroweap Formation are found at the northern end of the canyon but not in the southern. The more predominant rock units exposed in the cliffs of southern Oak Creek Canyon are the buff to white colored, frequently cross-bedded
PermianThe PermianThe term "Permian" was introduced into geology in 1841 by Sir Sir R. I. Murchison, president of the Geological Society of London, who identified typical strata in extensive Russian explorations undertaken with Edouard de Verneuil; Murchison asserted in 1841 that he named his "Permian...
Coconino SandstoneCoconino Sandstone is a geologic formation named after its exposure in Coconino County, Arizona. This formation spreads across the Colorado Plateau province of the United States, including northern Arizona, northwest Colorado, Nevada, and Utah....
and the red
sandstoneSandstone is a sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized minerals or rock grains.Most sandstone is composed of quartz and/or feldspar because these are the most common minerals in the Earth's crust. Like sand, sandstone may be any colour, but the most common colours are tan, brown, yellow,...
s of the Permian Schnebly Hill Formation. Unlike all the other formations exposed in Oak Creek Canyon, the Schnebly Hill Formation is not exposed at the Grand Canyon. The youngest rocks exposed in the canyon are a series of
basaltBasalt is a common extrusive volcanic rock. It is usually grey to black and fine-grained due to rapid cooling of lava at the surface of a planet. It may be porphyritic containing larger crystals in a fine matrix, or vesicular, or frothy scoria. Unweathered basalt is black or grey...
lava flows that form the east rim of the canyon. The youngest of these flows is an estimated 6 million years old.
Recreation
Oak Creek Canyon is located within the
Coconino National ForestThe Coconino National Forest is a 1.856-million acre United States National Forest located in northern Arizona in the vicinity of Flagstaff. Originally established in 1898 as the "San Francisco Mountains National Forest Reserve", the area was designated a U.S...
. Portions of the canyon have been designated federal
wilderness areas as part of the
Red Rock-Secret Mountain WildernessThe Red Rock-Secret Mountain Wilderness is a wilderness area located within the Coconino National Forest in the U.S. state of Arizona.The Wilderness is predominantly wind and water sculpted pinnacles, windows, arches, and slot canyons, and the red-rock cliffs of the Mogollon Rim that mark the edge...
. The
United States Forest ServiceThe United States Forest Service is an agency of the United States Department of Agriculture that administers the nation's 155 national forests and 20 national grasslands, which encompass...
operates several campgrounds, picnic areas, and recreation areas within the canyon.
Slide Rock State ParkSlide Rock State Park is a state park of Arizona, USA, taking its name from a natural water slide formed by the slippery bed of Oak Creek. The park is located in Oak Creek Canyon north of Sedona. Slide Rock State Park is located on Coconino National Forest land and is co-managed by the Arizona...
, home to a natural water slide along Oak Creek, is also located within Oak Creek Canyon. Other recreational activities in the canyon include swimming and
fishingFishing is the activity of trying to catch wild fish. Fish are normally caught in the wild. Techniques for catching fish include hand gathering, spearing, netting, angling and trapping....
in Oak Creek. There are 49 fishable miles along the creek where
rainbow troutThe rainbow trout is a species of salmonid native to tributaries of the Pacific Ocean in Asia and North America. The steelhead is a sea run rainbow trout usually returning to freshwater to spawn after 2 to 3 years at sea. In other words, rainbow trout and steelhead trout are the same species....
,
brown troutThe brown trout and the sea trout are fish of the same species....
,
largemouth bassThe largemouth bass is a species of black bass in the sunfish family native to North America . It is also known as widemouth bass, bigmouth, black bass, bucketmouth, Potter's fish, Florida bass, Florida largemouth, green bass, green trout, linesides, Oswego bass, southern largemouth...
,
smallmouth bassThe smallmouth bass is a species of freshwater fish in the sunfish family of the order Perciformes. It is the type species of its genus...
,
catfish (channel)Channel catfish, Ictalurus punctatus, is North America's most numerous catfish species. It is the official fish of Missouri, Iowa, Nebraska, Kansas, and Tennessee, and is informally referred to as a "channel cat". In the United States they are the most fished catfish species with approximately 8...
and
catfish (flathead)The flathead catfish , also called the yellow cat, opelousas, and shovelhead cat, are large North American freshwater catfish. This is the only species of the genus Pylodictis...
can all be found. Hiking the many trails that lead into side canyons or up to the rim of the canyon is also a great activity for the area. The trail leading the first 3 miles (4.8 km) up the West Fork of Oak Creek, a 14 mile (22.4 km) long narrow side canyon, is the most popular trail in the Coconino National Forest.
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