Arizona Place Names
Oak Creek Canyon

Table of Contents: Geography | Geology | Recreation | References

Oak Creek Canyon is a 12 mile long river gorge located along the Mogollon Rim in northern Arizona located between the cities of Flagstaff and Sedona. The canyon is often described as a smaller cousin of the Grand Canyon because of its scenic beauty. 

Arizona State Highway 89A enters the canyon on its north end via a series of hairpin turns before traversing the bottom of the canyon for about 13 miles until the highway enters the town of Sedona.

The Oak Creek Canyon-Sedona area is the second most popular tourist destination in Arizona, second only to the Grand Canyon.

Geography

Oak Creek Canyon is about 12 miles long and ranges in width from 0.8 to 2.5 miles. The depth of the canyon ranges from 800-2000 feet. However, due to the faulting that played a major role in the formation of Oak Creek Canyon, the west rim of the canyon is 700 feet higher than the east rim. The average elevation of the west rim is 7200 feet while the east rim elevation is 6500 feet (1950 feet)

Oak Creek, a tributary of the Verde River, flows along the bottom of the canyon and is one of the few perennial streams in the high desert region of northern Arizona. Oak Creek is largely responsible for carving the modern Oak Creek Canyon although movement along the Oak Creek Fault, a 30 mile long north-south normal fault line, is thought to have played a role as well.

In June 2006, the southern portion of the canyon, near Slide Rock State Park, was affected by a 4,300 acre wildfire known as the "Brins Fire".

Geology

Geologic evidence suggests the formation of an ancestral Oak Creek Canyon along the Oak Creek Fault about eight to ten million years ago. The ancestral Oak Creek Canyon was then filled in by gravel deposits and a series of lava flows between six and eight mya during the Miocene epoch. About this time, the Oak Creek Fault became active again and the modern Oak Creek Canyon began to develop along the fault zone as a result of the erosional action of Oak Creek. The normal, down-to-the-east motion of the Oak Creek Fault during the most recent faulting period resulted in the west rim of the canyon being about 700 feet higher than the east rim.

The spectacularly eroded walls of the canyon are formed mostly of Paleozoic sedimentary rocks. Exposures of the Kaibab Limestone (the geologic formation found at the South Rim of the Grand Canyon) and the Toroweap Formation are found at the northern end of the canyon but not in the southern. The more predominant rock units exposed in the cliffs of southern Oak Creek Canyon are the buff to white colored, frequently cross-bedded Permian Coconino Sandstone and the red sandstones of the Permian Schnebly Hill Formation. Unlike all the other formations exposed in Oak Creek Canyon, the Schnebly Hill Formation is not exposed at the Grand Canyon. The youngest rocks exposed in the canyon are a series of basalt lava flows that form the east rim of the canyon. The youngest of these flows is an estimated 6 million years old.

Recreation

Oak Creek Canyon is located within the Coconino National Forest. Portions of the canyon have been designated federal wilderness areas as part of the Red Rock-Secret Mountain Wilderness. The United States Forest Service operates several campgrounds, picnic areas, and recreation areas within the canyon. 

Slide Rock State Park, home to a natural water slide along Oak Creek, is also located within Oak Creek Canyon. Other recreational activities in the canyon include swimming and fishing in Oak Creek and hiking the many trails that lead into side canyons or up to the rim of the canyon. The trail leading the first 3 miles up the West Fork of Oak Creek, a 14 mile long narrow side canyon, is the most popular trail in the Coconino National Forest.

References

• Brins Fire-June 2006. U.S. Forest Service, Coconino National Forest. Retrieved on 2006-11-09.

• Ranney, Wayne D.R. (May 1998). "Geologic Road Log for U.S. Highway 89A through Oak Creek Canyon". Geologic Excursions in Northern and Central Arizona, 177-179, Department of Geology, Northern Arizona University.

• Ranney, Wayne D.R. (May 1998). "Geologic Road Log for U.S. Highway 89A through Oak Creek Canyon". Geologic Excursions in Northern and Central Arizona, 177-179, Department of Geology, Northern Arizona University.

• Lucchitta, Ivo (2001). Hiking Arizona's Geology. Mountaineers Books, 97-99. ISBN 0-89886-730-4.

• Ranney, Wayne D.R. (May 1998). "Geologic Road Log for U.S. Highway 89A through Oak Creek Canyon". Geologic Excursions in Northern and Central Arizona, 177-179, Department of Geology, Northern Arizona University.

• West Fork of Oak Creek Trail. U.S. Forest Service, Coconino National Forest. Retrieved on 2006-11-09.