[Mile-marker 27]
About a mile to the southeast, just beyond the steep dropoff on the
left, there is room to park, walk a short distance through the trees to
the east, and observe a fine view of main Ute Canyon, as shown in figure
52. Just beyond on our right are the cliffs of the mottled
salmon-and-white Slick Rock Member overlain by the all white Moab
Member, as shown in figure 18 and described in the accompanying text.
Half a mile southeast, where the road makes a gentle U-turn and
continues northeastward, we reach the highest point on Rim Rock Drive at
an altitude of about 6,640 feet. Note that the piñon and juniper are
larger, and the bushes are larger and greener at this altitude, for the
average precipitation increases as we go higher.