.TOURING

COLORADO GEOLOGY

CONIFER TO BAILEY

Location Map           The Rocks              Geology Map

CONIFER TO BAILEY

Conifer, Colorado looking northwest.

This stretch of Colorado is located to the southwest of Denver along Rt. 285.  This area is part of Coloardo known as the Front Range.   It lies to the west of the eastern prairie and to the east of the major mountain chain.  Elevations through this section range from 8000 to 9000 feet.  Rocks here are Precambrian igenous and metamorphics ranging in age from 1.4 to 1.7 billion years old..

AGE/ROCK TYPES IN THIS SECTION

(for explanation)

The drive from Conifer southwest toward Shaffers Crossing reveals weathered granite outcrops.  Although the granite is light gray; weathering has stained the outcrops a reddish-brown due to small amounts of iron present.  Near Shaffers Crossing, we pass momentarily out of the granite and into a gneiss-schist rock outcrop.

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Roadcut along 285 headed west at Shaffers Crossing.  Rocks are Precambrian gneisses.  See closeups below under "The Rocks".

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As we start back up the hill into the small town of Pine Junction, we pass back into the granite that we have been seeing most of the way prior to Shaffers Crossing.  The granite can sometimes be seen forming small towers and knobs near the road.  To the north of Pine Junction, is a granitic knob known as Lions Head, rather similar to Lone Rock seen on the right.

Lone Rock as seen from Roland Valley Drive looking north toward 285.

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A faulted section of metamorphic schists and gneisses near the top of Crow Hill as you head down into the town of Bailey.  These schists and gneisses along with occasional dykes can be seen all along 285 from Crow Hill down into Bailey.

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Many of the granite exposures through this area are weathered.  The degraded material is often used for road material.

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Just north of Pine, there are some spectacular granite outcrops like the one above and to the right.  The black streaking is most probably due to manganese.

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