Description and History
Stretching nearly 200 miles from east to west, the Book Cliffs begins where the Colorado River descends south through De Beque Canyon into the Grand Valley (near Palisade, Colorado) to Price Canyon (near Helper, Utah). The Book Cliffs appear mostly along the southern and western edge of the Tavaputs Plateau. The cliffs are largely composed of sedimentary materials. The Book Cliffs are within the Colorado Plateau geologic province.
In the Colorado stretch of the Book Cliffs, abandoned coal mines are present, as significant coal resources were present in the region. These mines are now generally capped for safety, but several fatalities of recreational hikers have occurred at these mines since 1989 (due to lack of oxygen/CO2 gas inhalation).
In some places, wild horses can be found in the Book Cliffs, for example (in 2008), a band of four was spotted near the abandoned Gearhart coal mine in Mesa County, Colorado.
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