View Point of Interest - Shell Falls

Point of Interest: Shell Falls

Park: Bighorn National Forest

Section: Photos

Preview	Name	Overall	Comments
	Shell Falls Entrance Sign
	Just Downstream of Shell Falls
	Copman's Tomb Informational Sign		Copman's Tomb Copman's Tomb is about 1,000 feet higher than the surrounding area and was formed largely by erosion. The tomb is that part of the area that has not eroded away. Copman's Tomb is a prominent cliff between Cedar and Shell Creek named for Copman, an early settler and cattleman who, it is said, wished to be buried there. Though his wish was not granted, his name became permanently associated with this well known landmark. The slumping below Copman's Tomb occurred because of the failure of shale and poorly cemented sandstone between the granite and layers of dolomite. As Shell Creek cut its gorge down through these easily eroded beds, the weight of the overlying dolomite layers (strata) caused large slum blocks to form. These will continue to move down slope until they become stable. The final result is a whole series of slump-blocks - each successively lower and holding up the other.
	Copman's Tomb
	Elephant Head Rock Informational Sign		Elephant Head Rock Elephant Head Rock was carved from fractured limestone by water and wind. Erosion proceeds along fractures more rapidly than in the rocks between. This results in pillar-like landforms. Elephant Head Rock is part of a formation which is a vast monocline. The monocline was formed when the Bighorn Mountain area was uplifted above the Big Horn River Basin area. The same rock units that form the top of the mountains are also found several thousand feet below the surface of the basin.
	Elephant Head Rock
	Just Downstream of Shell Falls		To give you a sense of the scale, you can see someone in the overlook at the top of the photo.
	Shell Falls
	Shell Falls Informational Sign		Shell Falls Waterfalls are somewhat unusual, and are formed only under certain conditions. Rivers and streams work hard to eliminate their waterfalls. Most waterfalls owe their existence to hard rock overlying soft rock strata. Shell Falls, however, owes its existence to tumbling water following a course of least resistance for countless years along two sets of joints of fractures, almost at right angles to each other. Above the falls the creek flows west along a fracture. Below the falls it follows a different fracture to the north. In time these fractures will be enlarged as the stream dislodges large blocks of granite and continues to wear away the sides and bottom of its channel. Since the Precambrian rock will erode more readily along fractures, more falls and rapids will form along Shell Creek's course because of the stream's erosive power. As you walk along the trail, notice the huge boulders being washed down stream by the turbulent waters.