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2 books match the query 'San Rafael Swell'

cover of Canyoneering the Northern San Rafael Swell

Canyoneering the Northern San Rafael Swell

Steve Allen

University of Utah Press, 2013

The San Rafael Swell is a seemingly endless expanse of slickrock, reefs, rivers, narrow canyons, mesas, towers, and pinnacles. It is the wilderness home of coyotes, eagles, mountain lions, and bighorn sheep. Steve Allen’s Canyoneering: The San Rafael Swell has long been the standard for exploring this remarkable area. With the input of fellow guidebook author Joe Mitchell, Canyoneering the Northern San Rafael Swell replacesthe older volume with a completely rewritten and updated text containing more detail, greater accuracy, and a tighter focus on the northern half of the Swell. This is the most current and comprehensive guide to the region. Designed for wilderness enthusiasts of all ages and skill levels, this guide provides detailed information on 25 hikes, including trip length, difficulty, elevation gain, and water sources. Side trips, points of interest, and historical information are noted throughout the text. This guidebook includes for the first time a wealth of topographic maps for all routes and roads, elevation profiles, and GPS coordinates.

A second volume covering the southern portion of the San Rafael Swell is in preparation.
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cover of Thinking with Stone: Deep Time in the San Rafael Swell

Thinking with Stone

Deep Time in the San Rafael Swell

Brian Rajski

University of Utah Press, 2026

An intellectual journey through 250 million years of stone

In the San Rafael Swell, geologic forces have tilted and exposed the strata so that over 250 million years of geologic history can be observed simply by traveling across the rocky landscape, with its dramatic variety of colors and forms. Largely neglected by visitors to the state’s national parks and monuments and overlooked by many nature writers of the Colorado Plateau, the exceptional “Swell” offers a unique opportunity to think about people’s connections to the layers of earth beneath our feet. 

Thinking with Stone takes readers on an intellectual journey across the Swell, moving from the youngest rocks at its edges to the oldest near its center and guiding readers through the features and histories of each geological layer. Drawing on personal experience and scientific research, Brian Rajski explores how creatively engaging with geology by using rocks as the foundation for thinking can generate new ideas about art, ethics, and the environment. Ultimately, the book reimagines the relationships between history and deep time, humanity and geology, and the individual and the stories told by stone.

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