While Roan Cliffs are "remote and inaccessible", the Book Cliffs run along the edge of the Castle, Gunnison, and Grand valleys and are therefore readily visible from populated areas and well traveled transportation corridors. As such the Book Cliffs are much better known than the Roan Cliffs. In addition, the name Book Cliffs is often applied to both landforms, with Roan Cliffs being an alternate name. Moreover, because of the how far they are spread between Utah and Colorado, they are sometimes mistakenly believed to be separate landforms of the same name within each state. The Roan Cliffs are situated north of and above, but run roughly parallel to, the Book Cliffs. Stretching nearly from west to east, the Roan Cliffs begin on southern edge of the West Tavaputs Plateau, on the eastern edge of the Willow Creek, north of Emma Park, and northwest of Helper on the Carbon‑Duchesne county line. The Roan Cliffs then run southeast along the southern edge of the West Tavaputs Plateau, passing through the northeast corner of Emery County until it reaches the Green River in the Desolation and Gray canyons. Upon entering Grand County, the Roan Cliffs initially pass through the southern edge of the Uintah and Ouray Indian Reservation. The cliffs continue their southeast course along the southern edge of the East Tavaputs Plateau until they reach a point near the head of Thompson Canyon. From that point the cliffs head northeast, but still along the southern edge of the East Tavaputs Plateau. They continue northeast until, after passing partially and briefly back into Uintah County, they reach the Utah‑Colorado state line. East of the state line, the Roan Cliffs continue a northeastern course in Garfield County until they reach the East Salt Creek. Beyond that creek, the Roan Cliffs run southeast along the southern edge of the East Tavaputs Plateau until they reach the Colorado River at a point about north of the Town of De Beque. The Roan Cliffs then run briefly northeast again to a point about west‑northwest of the City of Rifle. This is also near the highpoint for the Roan Cliffs, the Gardner Benchmark, with an elevation of and coordinates. The course of cliffs then turns northwest to run along the southwest side of Government Creek until they reach their eastern end, just south of the Garfield‑Rio Blanco county line, about south‑southeast of the "mid-corner" of Rio Blanco County and about northwest of the City ofRifle.
History
The Roan Cliffs were originally called the Brown Cliffs by John Wesley Powell, but the name was officially changed in 1932 to Roan Cliffs, to better match the roancolor of the cliffs.
