cuesta

thumb|Cuesta in Italy thumb|Schematic cross section of three cuestas, dip slopes facing left, and harder rock layers in darker colors than softer ones thumb|Cuesta in Crimea thumb| Magaliesberg Range, Transvaal, South Africa

A cuesta () is a hill or ridge with a gentle slope on one side, and a steep slope on the other. In geology, the term is more specifically applied to a ridge where a harder sedimentary rock overlies a softer layer, the whole being tilted somewhat from the horizontal. This results in a long and gentle backslope called a dip slope that conforms with the dip of resistant strata, called caprock. Where erosion has exposed the frontslope of this, a steep slope or escarpment occurs. The resulting terrain may be called scarpland.