Biggest DIKE you will ever see, Spanish Peaks, Colorado

We are on one of the world's nicest dikes (plutonic intrusions along vertical faults) near the Spanish Peaks in South-East Colorado, United States. These dikes are great landscape-formers because they weather only very slowly relative to the rest of the landscape. This makes them stand out like blades of knives from the landscape.

[@fretlessed25]

I remember the first time I saw the dikes from Spanish Peak- I was flying over on a commercial flight to Dallas and thought "What the hell is that? It looks like The Great Wall of China". To appreciate the immensity, I encourage anyone to look up Spanish Peak on Google Earth, then do a Street view of where one of these intersects Route 12 so you can see just how huge they are. One is over mile long, and another is over 2 miles long. I've had that area on my bucket list to drive through and see in person for years.

[@joshb8440]

I grew up next to one of these dike walls. They were so normal to me so I always find it so interesting that they are such a rare and unique feature in the world.

[@russellkeeling4387]

I know exactly where he is standing. I've been there many times. The road you see goes to Bullseye mine and a spot I've always called the knoll. It's a timbered flat spot actually above timber line. At that knoll and just below it were cabins housing the miners that actually had a number of small mines there. I camped at that knoll many times and used to go there on the Fourth of July and watch fireworks from cities far to the north. You can't hear them so you have to concentrate to see them but are clearly visible. The air is thin there and lightning is always a major concern plus it's a chore to get there. The Dakota Wall runs just west of the Spanish Peaks. The Dakota Wall runs from Canada all the way through the United States into Mexico. Colorado Highway 12 follows the Dakota Wall for a number of miles through there.

[@timlachance6744]

ty for the video! this is pretty cool

[@raywright4799]

Pretty informative. Unfortunately you’ll see some pretty cruel people leaving horrible messages.

[@earthsystem-antics147]

Thank you for letting me know. I removed some.