The Balanced Rock | The Garden of the Gods, Colorado

Balanced Rock, the iconic 700-tonne red sandstone ballerina perched on its tiptoes in the heart of the Garden of the Gods, is a public park in Colorado Springs, Colorado, US. It was designated a National Natural Landmark in 1971. It is, after all, inevitable that the 290-million-year-old rock will fall. Too many factors are working against it. Maybe it will be dislodged by erosion. Or wind. Perhaps it will succumb to Colorado’s notorious freeze-thaw cycles. Or even an earthquake. In 1936, an anonymous cousin of the Balanced Rock stood on a cliff about a half-mile to the south along the road to Manitou.

Balancing Rock Garden of the Gods

The Garden of the Gods' red rock formations were created millions of years ago during a geological upheaval along a natural fault line. Archaeological evidence shows that prehistoric people visited the Garden of the Gods about 1330 BC. At about 250 BC, people camped in the park.

Garden of the Gods Balanced Rock

The outstanding geologic features of the park are the ancient sedimentary beds of deep-red, pink, and white sandstones, conglomerates, and limestone that were deposited horizontally but have now been tilted vertically and faulted by the immense mountain-building forces caused by the uplift of the Rocky Mountains and the Pikes Peak massif. The following Pleistocene Ice Age resulted in the erosion and glaciation of Balanced Rock, creating the present rock formations. Evidence of past ages can be read in the rocks: ancient seas, eroded remains of ancestral mountain ranges, alluvial fans, sandy beaches, and vast dune fields.

The Native American Rocky Mountains, Steamboat Rock, and Steamboat Rock are among these. The resulting rocks had different shapes: toppled, overturned, stood up, pushed around, and slanted. Balanced Rock, a fountain formation, is a combination of coarse sand, gravel, silica, and haematite. It is haematite that gives the large balancing rock its red hue. It toppled off of a ledge, first resting on sand that was gradually worn away at the base. Gateway Rock and Three Graces are standing rocks that have been pushed up vertically. The Tower of Babel is the Lyons Formation, a stone made of fine sand from an ancient beach. [source]

Balanced Rock and Steamboat Rock. Image credit: Hans F.

The iconic red sandstone Balanced Rock of the Garden of the Gods is a public park located in Colorado Springs, Colorado, US. 

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Image credit: Bill McKibbon

Balanced Rock, Colorado National Monument

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C.C. Benscoter [Brookville, Pa.] and G.E. Colvin [Warren, Pa.] June 4, 1904, at Balanced Rock, Garden of the Gods. Image credit: Beth Scupham

Balanced Rock Garden of the Gods, Colorado Springs — Video

Source — Wikipedia | Gazette.Com