The Otherworldly Geology of Vasquez Rocks

Editor’s Note: Today’s story is the answer to the September Puzzler.

Several of the outcrops at Vasquez Rocks Natural Area in Southern California jut from the arid landscape of the Soledad Basin at remarkable angles. Geologists estimate that the tilt of sedimentary rock strata found in the area averages 50 degrees, steep enough that many of the otherworldly formations appear to point toward the stars.  

That’s fitting, in some ways, because the rocks have served as one of the Star Trek franchise’s favorite backdrops ever since the show’s inaugural season, when Captain James T. Kirk scrambled up the jagged terrain during an iconic battle with a member of a reptilian alien species.

Viewed from space, the Vasquez Rocks are considerably less dramatic, but they show up clearly as bands of gray nestled between mountain ranges in these false-color (left) and natural-color (right) images captured by the OLI (Operational Land Imager) on Landsat 9. The false-color view (bands 6-5-4) incorporates shortwave-infrared and near-infrared observations that accentuate differences in the landscape’s vegetation in comparison to the natural-color image on the right.

The Vasquez Rocks didn’t start out pointing skyward. When they were forming 25 million years ago, sediment was spread across alluvial fans—cone-shaped deposits that develop as fast-moving streams empty onto relatively flat plains. The sediment likely hadn’t traveled far, much of it eroding from nearby uplands. Over time, the alluvial fan deposits were buried and cemented into thick layers of sandstone and conglomerate rock.

Over millions of years, the region was then reshaped by the interaction of tectonic plates just to the east. Two plates grind past each other along a boundary that includes the San Andreas Fault, a strike-slip fault where the North American plate moves southeast and the Pacific plate northwest, contributing to the powerful tectonic forces that ripple throughout the region.

Eventually this tectonic activity led to the uplift and deformation of the Soledad Basin, with sedimentary layers gradually tilting, folding, and rotating. Once they were exposed at the surface, millions more years of weathering and erosion sculpted the formations further, removing softer material and leaving the more resistant sandstone and conglomerate fins and ridges that wow visitors today.

The rock formations represent far-flung moons and planets in several other Star Trek episodes and Vulcan, Spock’s home planet, in two Star Trek movies. Other productions have highlighted the Vasquez Rocks as well. They make appearances in dozens of other television shows and movies, including the science fiction series Westworld, For All Mankind, and Battlestar Galactica.

NASA Earth Observatory images by Michala Garrison, using Landsat data from the U.S. Geological Survey. Story by Adam Voiland.

References & Resources

• County of Los Angeles Department of Parks and Recreation, Vasquez Rocks Natural Area. Accessed September 4, 2026.
• Directors Guild of America (2003, November) Vasquez Rocks. Accessed September 4, 2026.
• Hendrix, E. & Ingersoll, R. (1987) Tectonics and alluvial sedimentation of the upper Oligocene/lower Miocene Vasquez Formation, Soledad basin, southern California. GSA Bulletin, 98(6), 647-663.
• Los Angeles Times (2016, September 8) How Vasquez Rocks, L.A.’s onetime outlaw hideout, became ‘Star Trek’s’ favorite alien landscape. Accessed September 4, 2026.
• NASA (2021, September 8) 55 Years Ago: Star Trek Debuts, Begins an Enduring Relationship with NASA. Accessed September 4, 2026.
• Painter, D. (2023, July 28) Didn’t I see these rocks in the movies? Yes, of course—they are the Vasquez Rocks. Accessed September 4, 2026.
• Santa Clarita Valley Historical Society, via YouTube (2026, February 23) Vasquez Rocks, California | Natural History. Accessed September 4, 2026.
• ScreenRant (2024, May 26) All 10 Star Trek Episodes Filmed At California’s Vasquez Rocks. Accessed September 4, 2026.
• SCVTV (2016) Land of the Sunny Slopes: A History of Vasquez Rocks. Accessed September 4, 2026.
• Space.com (2026, September 4) Trekkies honor ‘Star Trek’s’ 60th birthday with fan events, special screenings, and a world record Vulcan salute. Accessed September 4, 2026.

Source: NASA