20 Insanely Cool Rock Formations That Prove Utah’s Geology Is Next-Level
Utah’s landscapes have a way of making my soul feel alive. There’s just something about the red rock, the towering cliffs, and the deep, winding canyons that pulls me in every time. The contrast of blue sky against rust-colored stone, the way the light shifts across the desert, and the sheer scale of these formations—it’s all completely mesmerizing.
The entire state is packed with mind-blowing rock features, from hidden slot canyons to gravity-defying arches, surreal badlands, and towering monoliths that look straight out of a sci-fi movie.
This list is a collection of some of the wildest, most unique rock formations in Utah—the kind of places that stop you in your tracks and make you question how nature could possibly create something so cool.
20 Crazy Cool Rock Formations in Utah
1. Elephant Arch
Elephant Arch is exactly what it sounds like—a rock arch that looks strikingly like an elephant, complete with a trunk extending toward the ground. It’s one of those formations that makes you do a double-take because the resemblance is so spot on. While the view from the front is pretty good, the view from behind is particularly pachyderm-like.
It’s an almost 4 mile round trip hike to reach the arch, which is mostly flat but very sandy. The deep sand makes for a bit of a workout as you trek through the wash.
Once you arrive, the arch is perched in the middle of a rocky cliff, with plenty of surrounding boulders and ledges to climb and explore. Just be sure to admire the arch by only looking at it—climbing on the formation itself is not allowed.
This is one of the most interesting hikes near St. George.
2. Angel’s Landing
Located in Zion National Park, Angel’s Landing is one of the most iconic and recognizable hikes in all of the National Parks of the American Southwest. While about 75% of this hike is pretty standard trail conditions, the final ascent is a very narrow pathway along a skinny spit of rock that rises steeply and sharply up to the summit.
Chains bolted into the rocks and cliffside help keep you safe, which is good, because at times the path is less than 3 feet wide with sheer drop-offs on either side. Honestly, it’s not *that* bad of a hike and it mostly is just very adventurous and fun!
Note that you need a permit to hike to the summit of Angel’s Landing.
3. Goblin Valley
Goblin Valley is home to quirky, mushroom-shaped rock formations known as “goblins,” creating a landscape that looks almost alien. These strange formations were shaped over time by the slow and uneven erosion of sandstone and siltstone, leaving behind a valley filled with clustered rock structures and surrounded by towering pinnacles.
What makes Goblin Valley so fun is that there are no designated trails—you’re free to roam, climb, and explore wherever you want. It’s like nature’s version of a playground, with little passageways, alcoves, and hidden “rooms” formed by clusters of goblins.
This is one of the most interactive places to get up close and personal with unique rocks in Utah.
4. Dead Horse Point State Park
Dead Horse Point State Park is home to one of the most jaw-dropping landscapes in Utah—a sweeping panorama of deep red canyons and towering mesas, punctuated by the Colorado River making an enormous horseshoe-shaped bend far below.
The way the river snakes through the rugged rock formations, carving dramatic cliffs and plateaus, makes this one of the most unique geological features in the state.
The view from Dead Horse Point Overlook is for sure the best vantage point in the park, allowing you to fully appreciate the dramatic gooseneck turn of the river.
And although any spot in southern Utah is great at sunset, Dead Horse Point should be prioritized as an evening stop – the way the red rock glows in the fading light is magical.
5. Valley of the Gods
Many people have heard of Monument Valley – the iconic landscape in northern Arizona with towering sandstone pillars and buttes that rise hundreds of feet in the air from the flat valley floor. It’s practically the epitome of the “Wild West.”
But, what many people don’t know is that just an hour north in southern Utah, is another very similar landscape – Valley of the Gods. Valley of the Gods is also made up of sandstone monoliths, pinnacles, and buttes that are as stunning as they are dramatic.
The 17-mile scenic road takes you up and around the different monoliths in the park, where you can stare in amazement at these incredible rock formations that feel like they belong in a Western movie.
6. Natural Bridges
Tucked away in southeastern Utah, Natural Bridges National Monument is home to three massive rock bridges, all carved by flowing water over millions of years.
Sipapu Bridge is the biggest, standing 220 feet high with a 268-foot span. Kachina Bridge is the thickest, looking like a massive stone gateway, while Owachomo Bridge is the oldest and thinnest, appearing almost too delicate to stand.
You can get a great view from the scenic overlooks, but hiking into the canyons gives you the best perspective. The trails are steep but short, but standing beneath these towering bridges helps you really appreciate just how massive and impressive these rock formations are.
7. The Hoodoos of Bryce Canyon National Park
Bryce Canyon just might be my favorite national park in Utah – I just adore the otherworldly landscape found here. Most of the national park is centered around the “Bryce Amphitheatre,” a bowl-shaped area filled with thousands of bright orange hoodoos – tall, slender, and often knobby spires of rock sculpted over time by the forces of wind and water.
While there are quite a few vantage points over the Bryce Amphitheatre, where you can admire the hoodoos from above, the best way to experience Bryce is on the trails, where you can get up close and personal with these fun rock formations. I love walking in the little canyons formed by the hoodoos, feeling dwarfed by their enormity.
While there are quite a few trails in the park, you can’t miss the 3.5-mile Navajo Loop to Queen’s Garden trail. It takes you through the Insta-famous Wall Street area and is a great introduction to Bryce Canyon.
8. Peekaboo and Spooky Gulch Slot Canyons
Utah is packed with canyons, but Spooky Gulch is the narrowest of them all—so tight in spots that squeezing through feels impossible. At just 10 inches wide at its tightest point, it’s one of the narrowest slot canyons in the world.
These two canyons are right next to each other and are usually hiked as a loop. Start the adventure with Peekaboo slot canyon, which requires a 15-foot scramble to get inside. Once in, the canyon twists and turns through towering orange and pink walls, with small arches to duck through and ledges to climb up and over.
After crossing some rocky hills and sand dunes, you’ll reach Spooky Gulch slot canyon, where the walls get even tighter. Be prepared to turn sideways and hold your backpack in front of you to make it through the narrowest sections. There are some spots where you look at it and think “there’s no way” but amazingly, you can still get through just fine. It’s so fun!
9. Delicate Arch
Delicate Arch is easily one of the most iconic rock formations in the world—and the undisputed symbol of Utah. Standing 52 feet tall and completely free-standing, it’s a rare sight—even in a park filled with over 2,000 arches.
Unlike most arches in Arches National Park, which are attached to cliffs or fins, Delicate Arch stands alone, an incredible sight.
Delicate Arch sits dramatically at the edge of a sandstone bowl, with a sheer drop-off on the other side. Reaching it requires a 3-mile round-trip hike across open slickrock, with a steady uphill climb that makes the final reveal even more breathtaking.
10. Moonscape Overlook and Factory Butte
Moonscape Overlook is one of the most surreal viewpoints in Utah, with the soft, bluish-gray rock and barren landscape providing its “moonscape” name. Standing at the cliff edge of the overlook, you’re looking out over miles of rolling ridges and deep channels in eroded valleys—so barren and otherworldly that it feels like you’ve landed on another planet.
Just down the road, Factory Butte rises dramatically from the desert floor—a massive, flat-topped monolith with sheer, eroded walls. Like the overlook, the surrounding badlands are a barren maze of ridges and gullies.
Despite being right off the highway, this area feels remote and untouched, with hardly anyone around. If you’re into stark, dramatic landscapes, this is one of the coolest spots in Utah.
11. Waterpocket Fold in Capitol Reef
The Waterpocket Fold is the defining geological feature of Capitol Reef National Park—a massive, 100-mile-long wrinkle in the Earth’s crust formed millions of years ago. Known as a monocline, the fold was created when rock layers were pushed up on one side, lifting them more than 7,000 feet higher than the layers on the other.
Over time, erosion has carved through these tilted layers, creating spectacular rock formations: vibrant cliffs, twisting canyons, domes, monoliths, and arches.
When visiting Capitol Reef, you can drive the Scenic Route next to the Fold, admiring its unique texture and shape, or do one of the many hikes through canyons, up to arches, or to other impressive rock features. Though Capitol Reef is Utah’s oft-forgotten park, the rocks here are nothing short of spectacular.
12. Colorado River Basin
The Colorado River Basin, as seen from Island in the Sky, is one of the most impressive features in Canyonlands National Park. From the top of the mesa, you’re looking nearly 2,000 feet down at a sprawling maze of canyons carved out by the Colorado River over millions of years.
The landscape feels endless—layers of cliffs, plateaus, and deep-cut ravines stretch as far as you can see. The river itself is barely visible from above, but its winding path has shaped everything around it.
Grand View Point and Green River Overlook are the best spots to take it all in, offering an incredible panoramic view that really makes you feel small in the vast landscape around you.
13. Bentonite Hills
The Bentonite Hills are one of the most striking and surreal landscapes in Utah. Located just outside Capitol Reef National Park, these rolling hills are made up of bentonite clay, which gives them their signature soft, rounded shape and dramatic layers of red, purple, blue, gray, and green. The distinct striations are a result of ancient volcanic ash deposits that have been compacted and eroded over time.
The landscape is so otherworldly that its sometimes referred to as a “Mars landscape” and the Mars Desert Research Station, where scientists simulate conditions for future Mars missions, is nearby.
If you want to really admire the Bentonite Hills in all their splendor, you really do need to come at the right time – and that time is right after sunset. During “blue hour,” the blues and purples in the clay are prominent, whereas during the rest of the day they are rather washed out. For epic pictures, consider bringing a drone!
14. Reflection Canyon on Lake Powell
Reflection Canyon is one of the most stunning and remote spots on Lake Powell, where deep blue water snakes among dramatically curved, smooth Navajo sandstone cliffs, with streaked orange and red canyon walls stretching into the distance.
Getting here is no easy feat, however. The hike is a brutal 15-mile round trip through the rugged desert terrain of Grand Staicase-Escalante, with no marked trail or water sources. Most hikers backpack in and camp overnight, while others reach the canyon by jetski from the lake itself.
But for those who make the journey, the view is unreal—towering cliffs, sweeping bends and curves, and a scene that feels almost too picturesque to be real. It’s one of the most spectacular places in Utah—and one that few ever get to see in person.
15. Mexican Hat
Driving through southeastern Utah, you’ll pass a rock formation that looks suspiciously like a giant sombrero balancing on a narrow pedestal—that’s Mexican Hat.
This quirky landmark sits just off Highway 163, rising 300 feet above the west bank of the San Juan River. The rock itself is a flattened, pancake-like disk precariously perched atop a sloping base.
While it’s usually admired from the roadside, Mexican Hat is also a popular climbing spot for rock climbers.
16. Goosenecks State Park
Goosenecks State Park is a small but stunning stop in southeastern Utah, just north of Mexican Hat, offering a front-row seat to one of the most impressive river bends in the southwest.
Just a short drive from the entrance, the overlook lets you peer 1,000 feet down into the winding canyon, where the San Juan River snakes through not one, not two, but three massive gooseneck turns.
It’s a dramatic display of erosion, shaped over 300 million years as the river carved its way through the landscape. The San Juan continues beyond the park, eventually meeting the Colorado River at Lake Powell.
The park itself is tiny—besides the viewpoint, there’s a picnic area and a small, primitive campground. It’s a quick visit, but I do think this hidden gem is worth the stop!
17. The Needles District
Most people only explore the Island in the Sky district of Canyonlands National Park, but they’re missing out—because The Needles is absolutely incredible.
This remote district is packed with red and white-striped rock formations known as “needles.” Most are tall and spindly, clustered closely together, while others take the shape of rounded pillars, fins, or even mushroom-like formations.
Beyond the needles themselves, the landscape is full of tight passageways, cave-like alcoves, and sprawling canyons, all framed by these dramatic rock spires. In some ways, they might remind you of the hoodoos in Bryce Canyon, but the needles are distinct and unique—and the panoramic views over this almost otherworldly landscape are phenomenal.
18. Druid Arch
Druid Arch is one of Utah’s many hidden gems—and one of my absolute favorite arches in the state. This massive, jaw-dropping arch towers over the surrounding landscape with a sense of majesty and gradeur.
Getting there isn’t easy. The arch is tucked deep in the Needles District of Canyonlands National Park and requires a long, strenuous (but stunning) 10-mile hike. But when you finally reach the top of the cliff where Druid Arch stands, every step is worth it.
The arch itself is strikingly unique. Unlike the smooth curves of most natural arches, Druid Arch has sharp angles and towering pillars, resembling the rock formations of Stonehenge—which is exactly how it got its name (and a Druid was a Celtic priest). The surrounding iconic Needles formations make the perfect backdrop to this incredible arch.
19. Fisher Towers
Fisher Towers is an awe-inspiring collection of sheer, sandstone spires rising dramatically from the desert floor. The tallest of them, the Titan, stands at a staggering 900 feet tall.
From a distance, the towers look like a continuous, jagged ridgeline, but as you get closer, you realize they’re actually a series of massive fins and towering spires jutting out at different angles. A fun, adventurous trail winds through the formations, weaving between the cliffs and along the ridgeline, taking you right up against these towering walls of rock.
As you walk beneath them, craning your neck to take in their height, it’s impossible not to be in awe—the scale of Fisher Towers is staggering. The sheer, vertical cliffs and narrow, knife-edged spires make this one of the most dramatic and unique rock formations in the entire state.
20. Belly of the Dragon
Belly of the Dragon is one of the more unusual rock formations in Utah—not a natural feature, but a manmade drainage tunnel that has continued to be sculpted by water over time.
Located near Kanab, this tunnel was originally carved to divert floodwaters under Highway 89, but years of runoff have shaped its sandstone walls into smooth, undulating layers that almost look like the inside of a massive creature.
The tunnel itself is only about 100 yards long, but it’s a fun, quick stop. To enter, you’ll need to scramble up a short rocky section, and once inside, the passageway creates an almost eerie effect. While the trail continues for another four miles past the tunnel, most people just explore the first part and then head back.
