It preserves fossils dating back to the Eocene epoch.

The upper beds interfinger with the overlying Sierra Blanca Volcanics.

[3] The formation is part of the only extensive exposures of Cretaceous and Paleogene rocks in a large area of south-central and southeastern New Mexico.

It may correlate with the Palm Park Formation and Rubio Peak Formation, and the overlying Sierra Blanca Volcanics have a maximum age of 38 million years, suggesting the age of the Sanders Canyon Formation is between 43 million and 38 million years.

The formation was named for Sanders Canyon, just north of the type section.