Monitor and Merrimac buttes are two neighboring formations sitting at the edge of a plateau,
overlooking Sevenmile Canyon, which is northwest of Moab.
The 600 feet high monoliths has been so named because of their resemblance to the two Civil War ironclad ships.
The Merrimac (left) was the Confederate ship called “the Virginia” by the southern forces. The Monitor (right) was the Union ship sent to destroy the Merrimac.
Buttes were formed from Entrada Sandstone, as a result of the continued erosion of tabletop-like mesas.