Goblin Valley State Park
| Goblin Valley State Park | |
| Utah State Park | |
 Hoodoos in Goblin Valley
|
|
| Country | United States |
|---|---|
| State | Utah |
| County | Emery |
| Location | North of Hanksville, Utah |
| - coordinates | 38°34′00″N 110°42′36″W / 38.56667°N 110.71000°WCoordinates: 38°34′00″N 110°42′36″W / 38.56667°N 110.71000°W |
| Highest point | |
| - location | Wild Horse Butte |
| - elevation | 5,760 ft (1,756 m) |
| Lowest point | |
| - location | Red Canyon - southwest corner of park |
| - elevation | 4,840 ft (1,475 m) |
| Area | 3,654 acres (1,479 ha) |
| Geology | Hoodoos |
| Founded | August 24, 1964 |
| Management | Utah State Parks |
| Visitation | 61,435 (2011) |
| IUCN category | V - Protected Landscape/Seascape |
  Location of Goblin Valley State Park in Utah
|
|
Goblin Valley State Park is a state park of Utah, USA.
Its eminent feature is its thousands of hoodoos and hoodoo rocks, referred to locally as "goblins", which are formations of mushroom-shaped rock pinnacles, some as high as several meters. The distinct shapes of these rocks come from an erosion-resistant layer of rock atop softer sandstone. Along with Bryce Canyon National Park some 190 miles to the southwest, Goblin Valley State Park is one location with some of the highest occurrences of hoodoos in the world.
The park lies within the San Rafael Desert southeast of the east limb of the San Rafael Swell and north of the Henry Mountains. Utah State Route 24 passes about four miles east of the park. Hanksville lies 12 miles to the south.
Hiking is permitted in the park, which features three marked trails.
Evidence of Native American cultures, including the Fremont, Paiute, and Ute, is common throughout the San Rafael Swell in the form of pictograph and petroglyph panels. Goblin Valley is noted for several rock art panels, as well as the rock formations. The secluded Goblin Valley was then found by cowboys searching for cattle. Then, in the late 1920s, Arthur Chaffin, later owner/operator of the Hite Ferry, and two companions, were searching for an alternate route between Green River and Caineville. They came to a vantage point about 1 mile (1.6 km) west of Goblin Valley and were awed by what they saw – five buttes and a valley of strange, goblin-shaped rock formations surrounded by a wall of eroded cliffs. In 1949, Chaffin returned to the area he called Mushroom Valley. He spent several days exploring the mysterious valley and photographing its scores of intricately eroded rocks.
...
Wikipedia