The Moenave was deposited on an erosion surface on the Chinle Formation following an early Jurassic uplift and unconformity that represents about ten million years of missing sedimentation.

[1] Periodic incursions of shallow seas from the north during the Jurassic flooded parts of Wyoming, Montana, and a northeast–southwest trending trough on the Utah/Idaho border.

[3] The Dinosaur Canyon, with a local thickness of 140 to 375 feet (43 to 114 m), was probably laid down in slow-moving streams, ponds and large lakes.

The upper member of the Moenave is the pale reddish-brown with a thickness of 75 to 150 feet (23 to 46 m) and cliff-forming Springdale Sandstone.

[3] The next member in the Moenave Formation is the thin-bedded Whitmore Point, which is made of mudstone and shale.