The Raton Formation is a geological formation of Upper Cretaceous and Paleocene age which outcrops in the Raton Basin of northeast New Mexico and southeast Colorado. The Raton Formation was originally named "Raton Hills Group" by Hayden in 1869 for coal beds in the Raton Hills in Colfax County, New Mexico. In 1913, Lee changed the name to Raton Formation. Lee described the formation as a coal with carbonaceous shale with brown to buff sandstone and conglomerate (usually at the base). The Raton Formation is about 1140 feet thick at the type locality. The formation unconformably overlies the Vermejo Formation, and unconformably (?) underlies the Poison Canyon Formation.