Hole in the Rock, Papago Park
N 33° 27.356 W 111° 56.746
12S E 412106 N 3702233
A popular hiking destination in the park.
Waymark Code: WM3QB
Location: Arizona, United States
Date Posted: 11/13/2005
Views: 125
Hole in the Rock is a popular place in Papago Park. In the photo, you can see tiny people in the rock arch. The rock is very crumbly though and people have been known to fall. Sometimes they are seriously hurt. Please be careful if you climb it.
The red rock is an iron oxide-hematite and believed to have formed six to 15 million years ago. The buttes are a sedimentary formation. The holes, called tafoni, were formed by water breaking up the minerals in the rock. Throughout the park, a thin veneer of sand and rock overlie a bedrock landform, with some areas worn away to reveal the outcropping of bedrock.
Hole in the Rock is a naturally eroded rock formation of arkosic conglomerate sandstone. The local prehistoric Hohokam Indians noticed that a hole in the ceiling of the rock shelter created a ray of light that changed positions on the floor throughout the year. They marked the solstices and equinoxes in the shelter itself. Nearby boulders may have provided additional calender/ astronomical markers.
