Saturday, November 20, 2010

Mexican Hat Rock

Mexican Hat is a small town on the banks of the San Juan River about half way between Bluff, Utah and Monument Valley Tribal Park at the Arizona state line. About 3 miles north of town on Highway 163 is the Mexican Hat rock formation.

There is a highway sign for Mexican Hat Rock at a good gravel road that leads the short distance down the west side of the formation to a dirt turnoff with some parking space.

From the parking area there are some rough roads that provide a short easy hike up for a closer look. I stopped at the easy level, but climbing up higher is feasible and equipped rock climbers can get on top of the hat. The hat part is described as 60 feet across and 12 feet thick.

The Mexican Hat is visible from the San Juan River by the rafters floating past. There are also good views of the unusual tilted and eroded geological layers on the south side of the river.

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