[Mile-marker 19]
Another 1⅓ miles takes us to the next parking area at Monument Canyon
View, from which one may walk a short distance to the northeast. The
photograph shown in figure 13 was taken from a point northeast of the
parking area.
From the head of Fruita Canyon to Monument Canyon View, Rim Rock Drive
is on a bench of the Kayenta Formation that separates the two lines of
cliffs. We must now leave this bench, however, because from near Coke
Ovens Overlook to beyond Artists Point the bench ceases to exist, and
the Entrada, Kayenta, and Wingate form virtually a single cliff.
Moreover, we must get up into the Morrison Formation in order to cross
the divide between Monument and Ute Canyons. For these reasons, in the
next three-quarters of a mile south of Monument Canyon View the road
cuts upward through the entire Entrada Sandstone. Just beyond the first
curve are quarries on the right from which curb and building stones were
cut by the Civilian Conservation Corps in the 1930’s for protecting
overlooks and narrow stretches of road. At the southwest end of this
stretch is another parking area at Coke Ovens Overlook, which provides
good views of the north side of the Coke Ovens.