Comb Ridge

A few miles west of Bluff, Utah is Comb Ridge, a steep ridge running 80 miles in a north/south direction from Kayenta, Arizona to the foothills of the Abajo Mountains near Blanding. Tilted at almost 20 degrees and over one mile wide, its name comes from the jagged appearance of the ridge which resembles a rooster’s comb.

This natural marvel is a classic example of what geologists call a monocline, or a step-like bend of the earth’s rock layers in one direction. This blunt rock extension occurred nearly 65 million years ago, when tectonic plates buried deep under the earth’s surface slipped, leaving a rugged scar across once smooth stone. (credit: bluffutah.org)

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Filename: Comb Ridge.JPG
Copyright: Copyright © Steve Simmer
Image Size: 6714x4481 / 12.6MB; Bluff 2022
Contained in galleries: Bears Ears Nat'l Monument Exhibit - 2023

A few miles west of Bluff, Utah is Comb Ridge, a steep ridge running 80 miles in a north/south direction from Kayenta, Arizona to the foothills of the Abajo Mountains near Blanding. Tilted at almost 20 degrees and over one mile wide, its name comes from the jagged appearance of the ridge which resembles a rooster’s comb.<br />
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This natural marvel is a classic example of what geologists call a monocline, or a step-like bend of the earth’s rock layers in one direction. This blunt rock extension occurred nearly 65 million years ago, when tectonic plates buried deep under the earth’s surface slipped, leaving a rugged scar across once smooth stone. (credit: bluffutah.org)