Vasquez Rocks

I'm sure you've seen these rock formations used as backdrops for various movies such as the Flintstones, Star Trek, Austin Powers and Bill & Ted's Bogus Adventure. I pass by it all the time on my way to Mountain High off the 14 freeway.



Vasquez Rocks is a 745 acre Los Angeles County Park, located in Agua Dulce midway between Santa Clarita and Palmdale. Vasquez Rocks is named after a bandit who hid out in the numerous caves and caverns found in the park and surrounding vicinity. The rocks exposed here mark an important event in the geologic history of Southern California.



The Vasquez Rocks are formations sculpted by 8 to 15 million years of earthquake activity along the Elkhorn fault, an offshoot of the San Andreas Fault. Compressed, folded and tilted as much as 50 degrees, and up to nearly 150 feet high, erosion gradually stripped away soil from around the rocks leaving these ancient and spectacular creations. Course-grained yellowish-gray sandstone beds several feet thick make up these strange jutting and sweeping formations. Shale, basalt, and reddish-brown conglomerate can be found layered between the sandstone slabs.



I would've gotten more pictures but people were filming a movie. Ah well... next time. - peace