Thimble Rock
Before you is the magnificent rock formation Thimble Rock. At the foot of Thimble Rocks is the remains of
Driggs Mansion. Thimble Rock is one of many geographical attributes of the Unaweep Canyon. The Unaweep
Canyon stretches 44 miles long and is 2,500 feet deep and located where the Gunnison River once flowed.
Speculations suggest that Thimble Rock and the rest of the canyon were gradually being created 8 million years
ago when the Uncompahgre Plateau began to push through the shale ground and the waters found a new course.
Cutting the magnificent formations of the plateau, it gradually formed what we now know as Unaweep Canyon.
The Ute Indians called the canyon “Unaweep”, a Ute word meaning “canyon with two mouths”. This is the only
canyon found in the world that has a watershed divide in the middle of the canyon.
The ecosystem of the area is typical of the dry desert and semi-desert of the
Southwest. The areas along Thimble Rock and the rest of the Plateau are covered with
pinon pine and juniper trees. In the higher terrain is the Douglas Fir. Descending down the sides of the canyon, the pinon and juniper is replaced with more desert-type
vegetation of sage, rabbit brush, salt brush and Gambel oak.
The geology of Thimble Rock and Unaweep Canyon are some of the oldest in
Colorado, dating back to 1.7 billion years - way before mankind and dinosaurs even
stepped on solid ground. The massive Biotite-Muscovite Granite Thimble Rock
radiates the many different layers of rocks which give it its beautiful look. Scientists
believe that Earth was created about 4.6 billion years ago and that these rocks are
approximately 2 billion years old.
