Fisher Towers
Dark-red Cutler sandstone spires up to 900 feet tall near Moab — including the Titan — carved into fluted towers beneath a resistant Moenkopi cap.
The Fisher Towers are a cluster of dark-red sandstone spires rising as much as 900 feet out of Professor Valley northeast of Moab — the tallest, the Titan, is one of the biggest free-standing towers in the country. They are carved from the soft Permian Cutler Group arkose, capped and armored by harder Moenkopi sandstone and coated in a stucco of red mud, which is why they weather into fluted, dripping, almost organic forms. They are a landmark of Colorado River country and a famous (and famously loose) desert climbing destination.
Geology
Formation: Differential erosion of soft Permian Cutler Group arkose (shed off the Ancestral Uncompahgre Mountains) beneath a resistant Moenkopi Formation cap; a coating of re-deposited red mud gives the towers their fluted, melted-candle surface.
Among the finest examples of caprock-controlled tower erosion on the Colorado Plateau, and the type of exposure that shows the thick, mountain-derived Cutler 'undivided arkose' facies near its source.
Primary formation: Cutler Group
Age: Permian (290 Mya)
The Titan rises ~900 ft; the towers sit in the Cutler arkose of Professor Valley / Onion Creek.
History
Named for a nearby miner or cowboy 'Fisher' (not the fish); the name predates the climbing era.
A landmark climbing destination; Ancient Art and the Titan are among the best-known desert towers.