The Kansas Badlands and Castle Rock EarthCache
The Kansas Badlands and Castle Rock
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One of the Eight Wonders of Kansas - Castle Rock and the Kansas Badlands are located just south of Quinter, KS in Gove county. This area of Kansas is called the Smokey Hills Region.
The sandstone bluffs of the Kansas Badlands and Castle Rock were created about 80 million years ago when Kansas was covered by an inland sea during the Cretaceous period. The Castle Rock Badlands area contains very unusual limestone creations made up of Niobrara chalk. The monoliths here were created when the wind and water eroded the area around them. Erosion is still changing the landscape. In 2001 the tallest pillar of Castle Rock toppled following a thunderstorm.
This EarthCache is on private property but permission has been granted by the land owners to place this EarthCache. The owners do live nearby and can see Castle Rock from their place. Please be very respectful of the area and be very careful on the road to get to Castle Rock as it is very rough. Please do not attempt this cache if there has been snow and or rain in the past few days.
Castle Rock receives its name because it looks like a castle from a distance.
The area just south of Castle Rock, the Kansas Badlands, is just as intriguing as Castle Rock. Also please check out Monument Rocks in Western Gove county.
If the roads are too bad to travel please do no attempt. If they are too bad to travel you can still do this Earthcache. Just take an elevation reading at the closest point you can get and let me know where you are at. Also you can still estimate the how tall the tallest pillar it.
To Claim this EarthCache you must do three things.
1. Estimate the height of the tallest pillar.
2. Measure the elevation of the area. (if you can't right next to Castle Rock just give me the coordinates of where you were able to get access to you give the the elevation there.)
3. Optional. Take a picture of yourself in the area.
Click on the link with my geocaching name at the top of this page and email me the answers to the questions above. Do not post your answers with your log entry.
This EarthCache was approved by the Geological Society of America
Additional Hints
(No hints available.)