Hidden Colors

This National Monument is split into multiple units, a decent distance apart from one another. I'm not sure if I will go see the others, but this one has especially piqued my interest. I did't see any fossils (which the monument is clearly known for) but I did see some really neat colors! I took pictures of the signs that talk about the history of how these colors came to be, so you can check those out.

I came here after spending a good while in the forests of the Cascades in Washington, so seeing the desert again was very good for me. All the hiking trails in this unit are quite brief, but the scenery is quite spectacular, and there are benches placed at some of the more compelling viewpoints. The colorful features are a bit isolated, but the arid, lightly forested mountains surrounding the monument were very pleasing to look at. The roads leading to these painted hills, while pretty, completely lack the colors seen in the monument, so I would have never expected to see this based on it's surroundings.