The driving route at the Island in the Sky in Canyonlands National Park wasn’t as straightforward as I thought it would be. I think it is because of the sheer size of the park that it there won’t be one single road which can take visitors to see everything. Fortunately, there are numerous signs which help the visitor decide where to go. Like always, I would just follow the signs and trust that it would lead me to a place which is interesting. I saw a sign for this Upheaval Dome. I thought it was a strange name since I would have associated that name with a volcano rather than a canyon.

The Upheaval Dome is considered to be an anomaly since these structures aren’t common here. As the name implies, the structure is circular. There is a rim which surrounds the main dome in the center. Visitors can follow the trail around the dome but I didn’t do it, since it was just that big. There is a viewpoint where visitors can see the entire structure and ponder its existence. Why is that? It is because there isn’t a consensus as to what it actually is. The current leading theory is that it is an eroded impact crater. There has been shocked quartz found here which is common in impact craters. This supports the impact crater theory, but if it is so, this would be my very first visit to an impact crater.

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