COLORADO NATIONAL MONUMENT

national monument in west-central Colorado, U.S., just west of the city of Grand Junction near the Colorado River. Established in 1911, it occupies an area of 32 square miles (83 square km). Part of the Uncompahgre Plateau, the monument is known for its colourful, wind-eroded sandstone formations, towering monoliths, and steep-walled canyons. Petrified logs and dinosaur fossils have been exposed in the locality. Rim Rock Drive skirts the walls of the Red, Ute, No Thoroughfare, and Monument canyons at elevations more than 6,500 feet (1,980 m) above sea level. The monument's more interesting rock formations include Balanced Rock, Coke Ovens, Sentinel Spire, Independence Monument, and Window Rock. Juniper, pion pine, and wildflowers thrive in the canyons, and deer, foxes, and bobcats are plentiful.