Roadside Geology of Utah

Have several in the series. This one has best photos. We take turns reading the book out loud and driving.

Interesting book with lots of information.

I have used other books in the Roadside Geology series for many years. I bought the Utah version in preparation for an up coming trip. All the books have the same format.A basic introduction to geology. Then a very condensed history of the area. 4000 million years ago, Utah was on the coast and Australia was on the other side of a small ocean!The heart of the book is a list of "tours" that follow public roads. The photographs and illustrations explain features you can see while driving or at a scenic pull off.If the family has someone in Jr High, or even a bright 5th grader, have them read the appropriate paragraphs as you travel.

And then some.

Much more than expected. Every drawing and photo is in full color and it is a beautiful book worthy of such a beautiful place.If you feel that special desire to see "the bones of Mother Earth" as they should be seen and have a hankering take an educational camping and driving trip through the world's most beautiful and interesting region, you need this book. Yes, just looking at dramatic and beautiful scenery is a big reward in itself, but if you can have an insight into how old what you're seeing is, how the formations were laid down and how today's scenery was formed, your experience will be that much more rewarding. I am excited about this book and hope to use this guide book this fall along with my other geology books when I take a long camping trip through the region.

We really appreciated this detailed explanation of the freaky geology of Utah. We both have a science background, but I'm not sure that's required to really understand the explanations. There is more technical information for the geo-geeks (yeah, I used to be one of those), but the descriptions are well written, and it's totally based on the roads you are driving, so it's easy to locate the info. We were mostly in the national and state parks and there is a section devoted to those particular areas, which made it a great resource for our trip.

I made a google doc of google maps on each of the many routes ... I live far away from Utah - so my knowledge of various town names is limited but growing as we continue to travel and love our time in Utah. Amazon may not let me post this link ...so I made it public - you should be able to google "Roadside Geology of Utah" as a google doc.[...]Really appreciate the last pages ( pg 277 thru 330 ) on the National Parks ...If anyone can figure out how to make an interactive google map for routes - that would make my day.... and improve what I have tried to start.

I know a bit about Utah geology. This book is a quick reminder of the stuff I learned fro Bill Stokes back in the mid-70’s.