Coyote Buttes facts for kids
Coyote Buttes is a truly amazing place located in the American Southwest. It's part of the Paria Canyon-Vermilion Cliffs Wilderness, which is a huge natural area. This special spot is managed by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), a government agency that looks after public lands.
You can find Coyote Buttes in parts of southern Utah and northern Arizona. It's roughly halfway between the towns of Kanab, Utah and Page, Arizona. This area is split into two main sections: Coyote Buttes North and Coyote Buttes South. To visit either of these incredible places, you need to get a special hiking permit.
The rocks at Coyote Buttes are made of Navajo Sandstone. These sandstones were formed a very long time ago, during the Jurassic period, which was about 190 million years ago! The cool swirly patterns you see in the rocks are from ancient sand dunes that were blown by the wind and then turned into stone. The different colors in the sandstone, like reds, oranges, and yellows, come from tiny bits of iron oxide minerals mixed in the sand.
Some famous spots here include The Wave and Buckskin Gulch. You can start hikes to both of these places from the Wire Pass Trailhead, which is on House Rock Valley Road.
Discovering Coyote Buttes
Coyote Buttes is famous for its unique and colorful rock formations. These amazing shapes are created by erosion, which is when wind and water slowly wear away the rock over millions of years. It's like nature's own sculpture park!
Ancient Dinosaur Footprints
One of the most exciting discoveries in Coyote Buttes is a special area with lots of dinosaur footprints. This spot, about 0.75 acres (3,000 m2) in size, is packed with more than 1,000 dinosaur tracks! These footprints were made around 190 million years ago, when dinosaurs walked across soft sand that later turned into rock.
Scientists have identified tracks from several types of dinosaurs here. These include footprints from Eubrontes, Anchisauripus, and Grallator. There are also tracks from a large plant-eating dinosaur called a Sauropodomorph, though the exact type hasn't been identified yet. Finding so many footprints in one place helps us learn a lot about the dinosaurs that lived here long, long ago.
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Coyote Buttes -
Coyote Buttes -
The Wave -
Looking north past the teepees, in Coyote Buttes South
