Sandstone Colors - Garden of the Gods, Colorado Springs, Colorado

The American Southwest is home to some of the most colorful sandstone rock formations. I just love the look of the reddish-orange color, as it contrasts wonderfully with the green vegetation and blue skies. This color is due to the presence of iron minerals in the rocks. Over thousands of years, the elements have caused these minerals to oxidize, in essence rusting. This results in different shades of red, orange, and brown. When walking though places in the southwest, you often feel that you have been transported to the planet of Mars.

 A few years ago, while visiting one of the most unusual city parks in the US, namely the Garden of the Gods, I came across this scene that I had never seen before or since. Here, a characteristic sandstone rock formation of the southwest acts as the background for a rare (at least in my experienced) white sandstone rock formation. I’m not sure if the formation is really made up of sandstone but I am going with it and calling it albino sandstone.