Giant Earth Ribbon: How Utah's Goosenecks Got Their Twists

Imagine taking a pair of safety scissors and cutting giant, loopy zigzags right into solid rock. That is pretty much what happened at Goosenecks State Park in Utah, where the San Juan River carved a canyon that bends back and forth like the curvy neck of a goose!

Rivers usually take the easiest path downhill, swinging gently across flat ground. Millions of years ago, this river was lazily meandering across a flat plain. Suddenly, over millions of years, the land underneath slowly puffed upward like baking bread. Instead of sliding off to a new path, the river was trapped in its own squiggles and sliced straight down into ancient stone.