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United States
California
San Mateo County

Tafoni Sandstone Formation

Discover
Places to see

Natural Monuments

United States
California
San Mateo County

Tafoni Sandstone Formation

Highlight • Natural Monument

Tafoni Sandstone Formation

Recommended by 15 hikers out of 16

This Highlight is in a protected area

Please check local regulations for:

El Corte de Madera Creek Open Space Preserve

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    Location: San Mateo County, California, United States

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    Best Hikes to Tafoni Sandstone Formation

    4.2

    (9)

    82

    hikers

    1. Tafoni & El Corte de Madera Creek Trails loop — El Corte De Madera Creek Open Space Preserve

    7.23km

    02:05

    190m

    190m

    Moderate hike. Good fitness required. Easily-accessible paths. Suitable for all skill levels.

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    Moderate

    5.0

    (4)

    26

    hikers

    2. Tafoni Sandstone Formation via Tafoni Trail — Corte De Madera Creek Open Space Preserve

    4.55km

    01:15

    80m

    80m

    Easy hike. Great for any fitness level. Easily-accessible paths. Suitable for all skill levels.

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    Easy

    5

    hikers

    3. Tafoni Sandstone Formation loop — Corte De Madera Creek Open Space Preserve

    9.62km

    03:00

    370m

    370m

    Moderate hike. Good fitness required. Easily-accessible paths. Suitable for all skill levels.

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    Moderate

    Tips

    June 18, 2022

    The Tafoni sandstone consists of sand from ancient dunes cemented by water-soluble calcite. Due to calcite, water easily passes through the porous rock, thereby dissolving the calcite and then depositing it as crystals on the surface when it evaporates. Hence the strange shapes of this rock.

      June 2, 2016

      The tafoni weathering formation featured at El Corte de Madera Creek Preserve is a particularly accessible example of an uncommon phenomenon.
      The Tafoni trail to the Sandstone Formation is a 4.8 mile lightly trafficked loop trail located near Redwood City, CA that features beautiful wild flowers and is rated as moderate.
      Tafoni (singular: tafone) are small cave-like features found in granular rock such as sandstone, granite, and sandy-limestone with rounded entrances and smooth concave walls, often connected, adjacent, and/or networked. They often occur in groups that can riddle a hillside, cliff, or other rock formation. They can be found in all climate types, but are most abundant in intertidal areas and semi-arid and arid deserts. Explanations of their formation include salt weathering, differential cementation, structural variation in permeability, wetting-drying, and freezing-thawing cycles, variability in lithology, case hardening and core softening, and/or micro-climate changes and variation (that is, moisture availability). Tafoni have also been called fretting, stonelace, stone lattice, honeycomb weathering, and alveolar weathering.

      Tafoni features have been found across the Earth, with dramatic forms found in the Jodhpur-Ajmer section of India's Thar Desert, Petra, Jordan, Coastal California and Australia, and even in the Arctic regions, and Antarctica (Paradise 2011).

      The etymology of the word "tafoni" is unclear. Tafoni may come from the Greek word taphos, "tomb", or it may stem from a Corsican or Sicilian word for "holes", taffoni, or from tafonare meaning "to perforate". The earliest known publication of the term “tafoni” was in 1882.
      en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tafoni

      Free parking at Hwy 35, many trails popular with hikers and mountain bikers.

        December 5, 2019

        Tafoni sandstone rocks become sculptures through natural weathering over the course of thousands of years. From an observation platform, the relief-like structures can be wonderfully admired and photographed.

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          Elevation 700 m

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          Today

          Saturday 20 December

          17°C

          12°C

          83 %

          Additional weather tips

          Max wind speed: 10.0 km/h

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          Location: San Mateo County, California, United States

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