Red and gray shale of the Morrison Formation form from volcanic ash deposited an a broad coastal floodplain during the Jurassic Period (between 208 and 144 million years ago). The sand bed in the foreground probably represent old stream channel deposits. When the sediments were originally deposited they were nearly flat lying, but the tectonic forces that shaped the Waterpocket Fold in the Tertiary Period resulted in the rock layers dipping steeply to the left. These outcrops are along the Notom-Bullfrog Road in southern Capitol Reef National Park.