Red Canyon south of Lander, Wyoming
Red Canyon wall visible south of Lander,
Wyoming
Red Canyon is located 13 miles south of Lander,
in south central Wyoming
The orange and red sandstone exposed here is colored by ferrous
oxide or iron.
This is the view from the Red Canyon Overlook 24 miles south of
Lander on
Highway 28.
This is one of the most scenic vistas you will see anywhere.
The canyon was formed some 60 million years ago during the uplift
of the Wind River range west of here. As the sedimentary rocks tilted,
the more easily erodible rocks were removed by the action of water,
creating the canyon as it is seen today.
The bottom of the canyon and the lower 300 feet of the east side
are eroded into the Triassic Chugwater formation. This consists
of brick red sandstone, shale, and siltstone. The bright red color
of the Chugwater formation is due to oxidized iron between and on
the grains of the rock. It is this coloration that gives Red Canyon
its name.
For 19th century prospectors and miners in the rich
gold fields of South
Pass, Red Canyon meant a change in diet.
From the wind-swept sagebrush prairie at South
Pass, they could descend nearly 2,000 feet down a steep
wagon road to the fruit orchards and vegetable gardens in the warm
valley below where they purchased fresh produce - a welcome switch
from wild game meat they had been living on.
Today Red Canyon draws travelers who gather at this overlook approximately
15 miles south of Lander
on Wyoming 28 where you can pull over for a stunning vista of iron-laden
Triassic rock. At the center of the canyon is the Red Canyon Ranch,
protected by The Nature Conservancy.
Red Canyon Creek & Little Popo Agie River south of Lander,
Wyoming
Red Canyon Creek and Little
Popo Agie River is in the valley. As a tourist I can not
tell one from the other.
The spectacular orange and red sandstone formations you see here
have been exposed through millions of years of erosion. The brilliant
red color comes from concentrations of ferrous oxide or iron, in
the soil and stone.
Red Canyon Wildlife Habitat Management Area south
of Lander, Wyoming
One of the main Indian trails through this region followed Red
Canyon Creek in the valley below. Traces of the trail may still
be seen on the face of the slope west of here. Mountain men used
this same trail in the days of the rendezvous. Later it became a
wagon road and stagecoach route from South
Pass City to Lander
and Fort Washakie. The road was so steep that it was called the
"Red Grade".
These slopes are crucial winter range for elk. Over 700 elk use
this area every winter. Sometimes it is possible to see several
hundred elk on the open slopes to the west during winter months.
Red Canyon is cooperatively managed by the Wyoming Game and Fish
Department, the State of Wyoming, the Bureau of Land Management
and private landowners.
