City of Rocks National Reserve

The City of Rocks Natural Reserve shows a landscape with towering granite spires and fertile plains; seemingly sculpted by an unseen hand. However, it is a testament to millions of years of geological forces working together, like weathering, erosion, and mass wasting. Weathering breaks down rocks through physical and chemical processes. Erosion carries away the broken pieces by wind, water, or ice. Mass wasting involves the downhill movement of rock and soil, sometimes slowly like a creep or dramatically like a landslide.