Rick Billings, M. Photog., Cr.

Quail Creek Reservoir Utah

Turquoise water fills Quail Creek Reservoir in the Virgin River valley of southwestern Utah, just north of St. George, below banded cliffs whose folded red, white and orange layers belong to the Virgin Anticline. Key Features: The Reservoir: Once a river valley, the reservoir was finished in 1985 to supply St. George, with most of its water diverted from the Virgin River. The Geology: It sits in the eroded core of the Virgin Anticline, a great fold in the rock that runs through Washington County. The Colors: Clear turquoise water framed by red, white and orange cliffs makes Quail Creek State Park look like a postcard. The 1989 Flood: The collapse of the reservoir's south dike in 1989 sent a torrent downstream that scoured the Moenkopi Formation layers still visible today.

1291B Grand Canyon North Rim

The twin-pointed summit of Mount Hayden rises from a long, terraced ridge in the eastern Grand Canyon, seen from Point Imperial on the North Rim, with the Nankoweap Creek drainage and the hazy, layered walls of the inner canyon receding toward the South Rim. Key Features: The Vantage Point: At 8,803 feet, Point Imperial is the highest and northernmost of the North Rim overlooks, with a view unlike the others. Mount Hayden: The spire is the signature landmark of this overlook. The Canyon Below: The view takes in the narrow upper canyon of the Colorado River around Nankoweap Creek. The Scale: Layered limestone and sandstone cliffs fade toward the South Rim in the haze that comes with the canyon's size.

1289 Grand Canyon North Rim

A weathered outcrop of Kaibab limestone on the North Rim of the Grand Canyon frames tier upon tier of red and buff cliffs, a tree-capped butte rising on the right as the canyon fades into blue haze toward the distant South Rim. Key Features: Elevation and Solitude: The North Rim sits around 8,000 feet, and fewer than 10 percent of Grand Canyon visitors ever see it. Ancient Rock: The canyon walls hold a thick sequence of ancient rock recording much of the region's geological history. Carved by the River: The Colorado River has shaped the canyon over roughly five to six million years. The Wilder Side: The North Rim has long been the quieter, more remote side of the park.

1290B Grand Canyon North Rim

A small group of American bison grazes a high mountain meadow on the Kaibab Plateau along the Grand Canyon's North Rim, ringed by ponderosa pine, spruce and quaking aspen, a scene more like the northern prairies than canyon country. Key Features: The Kaibab Herd: On the North Rim, bison roam high forest and meadow rather than open plains. Herd Origins: The Arizona Game and Fish Department managed the herd in the House Rock Wildlife Area of the Kaibab National Forest from 1926 to 2009. On Park Land: Since about 2010 the herd has lived mostly on the North Rim, numbering an estimated 400 to 600 animals by 2014. Year-Round: The bison wander these meadows and forest edges throughout the year.

1292 Grand Canyon North Rim

A weathered, wind-sculpted pine clings to the sandstone edge of the Grand Canyon's North Rim, its twisted limbs framing layered canyon walls that stretch into the hazy distance under soft, low light. Key Features: The North Rim: Long the quieter side of the park, drawing far fewer visitors to its viewpoints. Elevation and Forest: At about 8,000 feet on the Kaibab Plateau, hardy conifers root straight into the bare rock of the rim. The Tree: Its twisted trunk and sun-bleached limbs show decades of wind, drought and swinging temperatures. The View Beyond: Ridge after ridge of the inner canyon fades into haze, showing the gorge's vast scale.

1293 Grand Canyon North Rim

Weathered boulders and a lone juniper frame layered red and tan buttes receding into a hazy horizon from a high sandstone overlook on the North Rim of Grand Canyon National Park, looking south across the inner gorge carved by the Colorado River. Key Features: The Quiet Side: Only about 10 percent of Grand Canyon visitors reach the North Rim, which sits above 8,000 feet. Deep Time: The canyon's rock layers span nearly 1.8 billion years of geology. The Carving Force: Over 5 to 6 million years, the Colorado River has cut a 277-mile gorge a mile deep. The Rimrock: Pinyon pine and juniper cling to sunlit rock above the shadowed, mineral-streaked cliffs.

1294 Grand Canyon North Rim

Soft morning light falls on Mount Hayden, a detached sandstone spire on the Kaibab Plateau, flanked by layered buttes and mesas receding into the hazy walls of the northeastern Grand Canyon, seen from Point Imperial. Key Features: Point Imperial: At 8,803 feet, the highest and northernmost of the North Rim overlooks, with a panorama unlike the others farther south. Mount Hayden: The spire reaches 8,362 feet, with 522 feet of prominence. The Edge of the Plateau: Point Imperial marks the northern edge of the Kaibab Plateau within the park. Remote Setting: The North Rim sees far fewer visitors than the South Rim, with quieter, higher views of the inner canyon.

1295 Grand Canyon North Rim

A weathered sandstone outcrop rimmed with juniper and pinyon pine frames a sweep of layered canyon walls leading east to the slender spire of Mount Hayden and the hazy depths of Marble Canyon, from Point Imperial on the Grand Canyon's North Rim. Key Features: Highest Overlook: Point Imperial stands at 8,803 feet, the North Rim's highest viewpoint. Mount Hayden: The distant spire rises to about 8,362 feet, the signature landmark of this view. The Trail: The Point Imperial Trail has grand views of Marble Canyon and Mount Hayden. The Quieter Rim: The South Rim sees more than 4 million visitors a year; the North Rim is quieter, cooler and higher.

1296 Grand Canyon North Rim

Layered red and buff sandstone cliffs drop away into a maze of side canyons and buttes below the Grand Canyon's North Rim, fading into a hazy horizon at the far South Rim, with pinyon pine, juniper and sunlit limestone outcrops in front. Key Features: Elevation: The North Rim on the Kaibab Plateau stands about 1,000 feet higher than the South Rim, with broad, deep views into the inner gorge. Erosional Sculpture: Millions of years of Colorado River downcutting and side-canyon erosion exposed the stacked rock layers in the cliffs. Remote Setting: Far fewer visitors reach this side, which keeps its overlooks quiet and its forest thick.

1297 Grand Canyon North Rim

At the center rises Mount Hayden, a sharp stone spire carved from ancient petrified dunes above Nankoweap Canyon, with layered buttes and the hazy expanse of the eastern Grand Canyon stretching beyond, seen from Point Imperial, the highest overlook on either rim. Key Features: The Viewpoint: Point Imperial sits at about 8,800 feet, with sweeping views toward Marble Canyon and the Painted Desert. Mount Hayden: The slender spire reaches about 8,362 feet, mostly Coconino Sandstone, and is named for Arizona pioneer Charles T. Hayden. The Terrain: Juniper and pine cling to reddish slopes of weathered sandstone and shale on the Kaibab Plateau's high country. The Scale: Distant canyon walls fade into haze, showing how much rock erosion has carried away here.

1298 Grand Canyon North Rim

Rust-colored Kaibab Plateau slopes dotted with ponderosa pine frame a view east across layered red and buff cliffs to the pinnacle of Mount Hayden, with Marble Canyon and the Painted Desert fading into the distance from Point Imperial on the North Rim. Key Features: The Viewpoint: The highest viewpoint in the park takes in all of Marble Canyon as it cuts northeast into the Painted Desert below the Vermilion Cliffs. The View: Mount Hayden, the Vermilion Cliffs, Marble Canyon and land burned in the 2000 Outlet Fire can all be seen from here. The Quieter Side: Cape Royal and Point Imperial are the top views on the Grand Canyon's quieter rim. The Geology: The rock bands are sedimentary layers built up over millions of years and carved by the Colorado River system.

1299 Grand Canyon North Rim

Angels Window, a natural arch cut through golden Kaibab limestone on the Cape Royal Trail along the Grand Canyon's North Rim, seen from below, with small figures standing at a railing on the narrow viewing platform across its top and the layered walls and hazy buttes of the canyon beyond. Key Features: The Arch: It formed as the Kaibab Plateau rose and weathering wore a hole through the rock. The Viewpoint: A short side path with railings crosses the narrow neck of rock atop the window to a viewpoint right at the cliff edge. Cape Royal: The southernmost viewpoint on the North Rim, with a 270-degree panorama over the Colorado River gorge. The Rock: Kaibab limestone is the hard caprock that forms the canyon rim through much of the park.

1301 Grand Canyon North Rim

Layered red, buff and purple cliffs step down into the gorge from a high overlook on the Grand Canyon's North Rim, with buttes, side canyons and ridgelines receding into haze toward the South Rim and sparse pinyon-juniper woodland clinging to the slopes. Key Features: Elevation: The North Rim stands about a thousand feet higher than the South Rim and draws far fewer visitors, keeping its overlooks quiet. Geology: The rock bands record nearly two billion years of Earth's history, laid down as sediment and carved by the Colorado River. Erosion: Faster erosion on this side of the canyon makes sheerer walls and more dramatic buttes than the gentler South Rim.

1302 Grand Canyon North Rim

Ponderosa pine lines the North Rim of the Grand Canyon on the Kaibab Plateau in northern Arizona, above cliffs of pale limestone and sandstone that drop into a maze of deep red and orange buttes and side canyons, the hazy, sunlit canyon stretching to the horizon. Key Features: The North Rim: At about 8,000 feet, the quieter, less visited side of the canyon, with some of the park's most dramatic views. The Rock Layers: Bands of Kaibab limestone, sandstone and shale lay bare hundreds of millions of years of geologic history. The Forest Edge: Thick ponderosa and mixed conifer forest crowns the plateau, then gives way abruptly to sheer cliffs and temple-like buttes. The Scale: Side canyons and weathered formations show how the Colorado River and its tributaries carved this vast system over millions of years.

1303 Grand Canyon North Rim

Layered red, orange and cream cliffs fall away into a maze of buttes and side canyons below a North Rim overlook, with a thin green ribbon of creek bed far below, distant mesas on a hazy horizon, and juniper and pine framing the rim on the right. Key Features: The North Rim: Above 8,000 feet and far less visited than the South Rim, with long, wild views into the canyon. The Rock Record: Nearly two billion years of geologic history lie exposed, cut open as the Colorado River and its tributaries carved down while the Colorado Plateau rose. The Isolated Buttes: Erosion has left flat-topped mesas and spires standing apart from the canyon walls, remnants of the plateau that once joined the two rims.

1304 Grand Canyon North Rim

Visitors stand on top of Angels Window, a natural stone arch at the Cape Royal overlook on the Grand Canyon's North Rim, seen through the opening with layered red and ochre walls, winding side canyons and distant plateaus stretching toward the hazy horizon. Key Features: The Arch: As the Kaibab Plateau rose, the strain fractured its limestone into crossing joints, and weathering slowly opened the window seen here. The Vantage Point: The paved Cape Royal Road leads to a short walk out over the top of the arch, the only easily reached arch in the Grand Canyon. The Landscape: The Colorado River carved these stratified cliffs into bands of red, orange and tan over millions of years. The Setting: Cape Royal sits on the higher, quieter North Rim, with views across the canyon to the South Rim.

1305 Grand Canyon North Rim

A weathered sandstone outcrop on the Grand Canyon's North Rim frames a sweeping view of banded red and cream cliffs, a solitary butte and a dry wash winding through pinyon and juniper far below, with the main chasm's hazy walls far off. Key Features: The Rock Layers: Each band of rock records a chapter of deposition and erosion, making the canyon a key to the region's geologic history. The Scale: The canyon's immense width and depth, carved over millions of years, leave layered buttes and temples stretching to the horizon. The North Rim: Higher, cooler and far less visited, with quiet overlooks onto the canyon's eastern reaches. The River: Hidden in the haze below, the Colorado River keeps cutting through the rock.

1307 Sunset In The Grand Canyon North Rim

A dusky orange sun hangs low in a smoke-tinted sky over the Grand Canyon from the North Rim, warming the nearer cliffs and junipers while layered sandstone buttes, distant mesas and spires dissolve into the haze. Key Features: The Kaibab Plateau: The North Rim sits above 8,000 feet on this forested plateau, cooler and quieter than the South Rim. The Scale: Carved by the Colorado River over millions of years, the gorge is about a mile deep. Smoke and Light: Wildfire haze often settles into the canyon, turning sunlight deep orange and layering distant landforms into silhouettes.