Fountain Formation
Red Rocks Park and Amphitheatre

Named after Fountain Creek near Colorado Springs where good exposures are present, this formation provides some of the most scenic vistas along the Front Range. This unit is made up of over 1,000 feet of reddish sandstone, mudstone, and conglomerate that are Pennsylvanian to Permian in age. The rocks’ character and composition reveal its origin: They contain granite fragments and cobbles, demonstrating that they eroded from a granitic mountain range much like today’s Front Range. This ancient range of mountains, called the Ancestral Rockies, once dominated the landscape of western Colorado. This ancient range has long been completely eroded away, and its only record lies in the sedimentary rocks that once flanked it.
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