Little Finland

Little Finland is unique, and perhaps the most scenic area within Gold Butte National Monument. Though the road to access the area requires a four-wheel drive vehicle with clearance to trace a series of sandy washes, visitors to this isolated area are treated to a landscape of surreal and fantastic shapes and formations, including rock arches, hoodoos, knobs, and swirls, most likely with few, if any, other people around.

The area known as Little Finland has no official name. It has also been called Devil's Fire and Hobgoblin's Playground, but Little Finland seems to be the most common name. Upon reaching the area, towers of fiery red rock jut out of a tall butte in an otherworldly display.

The formations are a result of sandstone hardened and shaped by wind and water erosion. The formation first began forming during the Jurassic Period about 150 to 200 million years ago, when sandstone deposits were covered by younger sand dunes and solidified. About 10 to 16 million years ago the hardened stone uplifted and groundwater left minerals that clung to the stone and hardened. This left the stone with patches that were harder than others, which causes the stone to erode at different speeds. This stone, combined with years of wind and flash flooding, have created the fantastical formations that exist today.

Though no actual trails exist, it is possible to follow a wash from the parking area to a layer of stone that allows visitors to scramble up to the formations. Multiple seeps and springs exist along the base of the stone, feeding the green palms and shrubs whose color provides a rigid contrast to the deep red Aztec sandstone and the blue Mojave skies. Hoodoos and goblins seem to pay no mind to gravity. Arches can be jagged and shapely rather than smooth. Flash floods appear to have smoothed and refined every surface. The fiery red stone reflects even brighter during the dawn and dusk hours.

It should be said first and foremost that the area's level of development remains unregulated, and there is nothing to stop visitors from walking or climbing anywhere on the surface of the stone. Be extremely careful not to damage or contribute to the erosion of the formations while you're here.

The drive requires a four-wheel drive vehicle with clearance, and there are no signs or markings along the road. There is no cell reception out here, so know where you're going before you attempt to drive here. There are no amenities of any kind at Little Finland.