Colorado Highway 12 connects Trinidad, Colorado with La Vera and is registered as a Scenic Byway. The highway skirts the western Spanish Peak and the geology is noted for the numerous volcanic dikes. We camped in the town of Stonewall, which gets its name from the large sill on each side of Highway 12. What's the difference, since both sills and dikes look similar? A sill is several layers of sedimentary rock that has been uplifted to a vertical position. A dike is volcanic magma that has pushed up through cracks in the existing rock. You can see the layers of rock in the sill images above, while the dike, captured closer to the town of La Vita is solid. Notice the colorful rock layers with the soft afternoon lighting in the sills. The dike was photographed using the telephoto feature of an iPhone 15.
Sills and Dikes in the Spanish Peaks Region
A 'sill' near the town of Stonewall, off Highway 12 (drone photo). (KW)
A 'dike' along Highway 12. (KW)
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