Entrenched meander. View across a canyon, showing a highly curved path. This is an example of an entrenched meander. Hundreds of thousands of years ago, the river meandered slowly across a plain. Over the intervening time, the plain has been slowly uplifted but the flow of the river has not dramatically increased in speed. Thus the river has slowly cut into the plain without making a large alteration to its course. The canyon of the San Juan River seen here is over 300 metres deep and runs for several kilometres. Photographed in the Goosenecks State Park, Utah, USA.