Turquoise Trail
Garden of the Gods Rock Formation, NM

Visitors are welcome to stop here, take photos, and marvel at nature's handiwork. Vertical beds of colorful sandstone and mudstone of the Galisteo Foundation were deposited here in streams 70 million years ago. Deposited as horizontal sheets, they have been tilted to their present vertical position by mountain-building forces beneath the earth's surface. The formation extends for miles on both sides of the byway and can even be seen from outer space.