Cathedral Gorge State Park in Meadow Valley, near Panaca, preserves nearly 1,800 acres of badlands carved from soft bentonite clay into pale fluted walls, steep gullies, and narrow slot-like passages locally called caves. The landscape formed from sediments left by an ancient freshwater lake that covered much of Meadow Valley nearly 5 million years ago and was gradually cut by rainwater and melting snow after the lake drained. Known in the nineteenth century as Cathedral Gulch, the area later hosted open-air plays and Easter ceremonies. Set aside for preservation beginning in 1924, it became one of Nevada’s four original state parks in 1935.