Trips Places Foods Stories Newsletters
Loading...
Loading...
Loading...
Loading...

No search results found for
“”

Make sure words are spelled correctly.

Try searching for a travel destination.

Places near me Random place

Popular Destinations

  • Paris
  • London
  • New York
  • Berlin
  • Rome
  • Los Angeles
Trips Places Foods Stories Newsletters
Sign In Join
Places near me Random place
All the United States Colorado Bedrock Paradox Valley

Paradox Valley

A river runs through this remote valley in a very unexpected way.

Bedrock, Colorado

Added By
Stuart Black
Email
Been Here
Want to go
Added to list
CAPTION
Paradox Valley   cyccommute / Atlas Obscura User
Western mouth of Delores River Canyon.   cyccommute / Atlas Obscura User
Western mouth of Delores River.   cyccommute / Atlas Obscura User
Simulated view of the entrenched Dolores River (lower right to upper left) crossing Paradox Valley (center).   NASA/public domain
Highway 90 through the Paradox Valley.   Tony Webster/cc by 2.0
Looking north.   cyccommute / Atlas Obscura User
Slumping in cliffs along the north side of the valley.   slgwv / Atlas Obscura User
Where the Dolores River enters the valley from the south.   slgwv / Atlas Obscura User
Looking west along Paradox Valley to the La Sal Mountains in Utah (skylined).   slgwv / Atlas Obscura User
Bedrock store, in the heart of Paradox Valley. This store had a bit part in the 1991 movie “Thelma and Louise.”   slgwv / Atlas Obscura User
Been Here
Want to go
Added to list

About

Ringed by high sandstone walls, the paradox of Paradox Valley is that the Dolores River takes a seemingly impossible path, flowing perpendicularly across the middle of the valley instead of the normal route down its length. The valley is 25 miles long from north to south, but the river runs about 3 to 5 miles across the basin from west to east, cutting through the thousand-foot-tall canyon walls on either side.

This unusual place formed when a geological fold pushed up a salt dome under the Dolores River. The salt dome was infiltrated with groundwater and the salt dissolved, leading the dome to collapse into the void that was left. The river became so deeply entrenched in the resulting basin over the years that the path of least resistance was to flow across the valley rather than down it, and so it remains today.

Salt still exists under the valley floor and provides a significant contribution to the salinity of the Dolores River and the Colorado River into which the Dolores eventually flows. Natural brine seeps of up to seven times the salinity of seawater (about 20 percent salt) flow into the Dolores, adding as much as 100,000 to 200,000 tons of salt annually to the river. As part of a long term effort to reduce the overall salinity of the Colorado River system, wells have been drilled to about 40 feet of depth and the brine is pumped out and sent to an injection well on the other side of the valley. The brine is then injected into a 14,000 foot deep well at high pressure, below an impermeable shale layer to keep it from welling back up into the salt dome.

The injection and extraction system has been in operation since the 1980s, and some studies have shown it to be quite effective at removing salt that would have normally reached the river. A consequence of the injection, however, is that it has caused a cluster of 3 to 5 Richter scale earthquakes throughout the Four Corners area.

Related Tags

Rivers Geological Oddities Geology Salt

Know Before You Go

Colorado 90 follows the valley south from Naturita, Colorado, or north from La Sal, Utah. Montrose County Road, Y11, follows the course of the Delores River from Bedrock, Colorado, to Colorado 141 near Uravan.

Community Contributors

Added By

cyccommute

Edited By

Joe Schallan, Meg, slgwv

  • Joe Schallan
  • Meg
  • slgwv

Published

August 23, 2019

Edit this listing

Make an Edit
Add Photos
Paradox Valley
CO-90
Bedrock, Colorado
United States
38.324591, -108.868098
Get Directions

Nearby Places

Horse Collar Arch

Bedrock, Colorado

miles away

Hanging Flume

Paradox, Colorado

miles away

Uravan

Uravan, Colorado

miles away

Explore the Destination Guide

Photo of Bedrock

Bedrock

Colorado

Places 2

Nearby Places

Horse Collar Arch

Bedrock, Colorado

miles away

Hanging Flume

Paradox, Colorado

miles away

Uravan

Uravan, Colorado

miles away

Explore the Destination Guide

Photo of Bedrock

Bedrock

Colorado

Places 2

Related Places

  • The Sink

    Lander, Wyoming

    The Sinks

    This canyon is named for a unique geologic formation where the river vanishes underground near the mouth of the canyon and reappears farther down.

  • Lake Powell, Utah

    Cathedral in the Desert

    The damming of the Colorado River buried an iconic geologic formation before record-breaking drought brought it back.

  • Marker of the Eastern Subcontinental Divide.

    Atlanta, Georgia

    Eastern Sub-Continental Divide Mural

    A little-known mural reveals the hydrological reason for Atlanta's founding in this location.

  • Rosomača Canyon.

    Slavinja, Serbia

    Rosomača Canyon

    The ridged layers that make up this river canyon represent Earth's geological history.

  • The salt lake becomes colorful in warm temperatures because of algae growth

    Yuncheng, China

    Yuncheng Salt Lake

    Rainbow-hued in the summer and crystalline in the winter, this salty lake has inspired battles, temples, and plenty of awe.

  • Pertosa Caves.

    Muraglione, Italy

    Pertosa Caves

    Ride a boat through this magnificent underground world, which now doubles as a theater.

  • Unaweep Divide, west.

    Gateway, Colorado

    Unaweep Canyon

    Two creeks flow out of either end of this canyon in opposite directions.

  • Sculptured rocks.

    Hebron, New Hampshire

    Sculptured Rocks

    This narrow canyon has been carved by the river over thousands of years into spectacular and curious forms.

Aerial image of Vietnam, displaying the picturesque rice terraces, characterized by their layered, verdant fields.
Atlas Obscura Membership

Become an Atlas Obscura Member


Join our community of curious explorers.

Become a Member

Get Our Email Newsletter

Follow Us

Facebook YouTube TikTok Instagram Pinterest RSS Feed

Get the app

Download the App
Download on the Apple App Store Get it on Google Play
  • All Places
  • Latest Places
  • Most Popular
  • Places to Eat
  • Random
  • Nearby
  • Add a Place
  • Stories
  • Food & Drink
  • Itineraries
  • Lists
  • Video
  • Podcast
  • Newsletters
  • All Trips
  • Family Trip
  • Food & Drink
  • History & Culture
  • Wildlife & Nature
  • FAQ
  • Membership
  • Feedback & Ideas
  • Community Guidelines
  • Product Blog
  • Unique Gifts
  • Work With Us
  • About
  • FAQ
  • Advertise With Us
  • Advertising Guidelines
  • Privacy Policy
  • Cookie Policy
  • Terms of Use
Atlas Obscura

© 2025 Atlas Obscura. All Rights Reserved.