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Castle Butte (Valley of the Gods)

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Coordinates: 37°18′52″N 109°51′15″W / 37.3144049°N 109.8541540°W / 37.3144049; -109.8541540
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Castle Butte
Eagle Plume Tower
North aspect
Highest point
Elevation5,700 ft (1,737 m)[1][2]
Prominence560 ft (171 m)[1]
Parent peakBears Ears[1]
Isolation2.34 mi (3.77 km)[1]
Coordinates37°18′52″N 109°51′15″W / 37.3144049°N 109.8541540°W / 37.3144049; -109.8541540[3]
Geography
Castle Butte is located in Utah
Castle Butte
Castle Butte
Location in Utah
Castle Butte is located in the United States
Castle Butte
Castle Butte
Castle Butte (the United States)
LocationValley of the Gods
San Juan County, Utah, U.S.
Parent rangeColorado Plateau[2]
Topo mapUSGS Cigarette Spring Cave
Geology
Age of rockPermian
Mountain typeButte
Type of rockSandstone
Climbing
First ascent1976
Easiest routeclass 5.10b climbing[1]

Castle Butte is a 5,700-foot-elevation (1,737-meter) summit in San Juan County, Utah, United States.[3]

Description

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Castle Butte is situated 16 miles (26 km) west of Bluff, Utah, in the Valley of the Gods, on land administered by the Bureau of Land Management.[4] Precipitation runoff from this iconic landform's slopes drains to the San Juan River via Lime Creek.[2] Access to the butte is via the 17-mile Valley of the Gods Road which makes a change of direction loop around this butte. Topographic relief is significant as the summit rises 600 feet (183 meters) above the surrounding terrain in 0.15 mile (0.24 km). This landform's toponym has been officially adopted as Castle Butte by the United States Board on Geographic Names,[3] however it is also known as Eagle Plume Tower.[1][2] The first ascent of the summit was made in 1976 by Bill Forrest and Frank Luptom via the South Face.[5]

Geology

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Castle Butte is composed of two principal strata of the Cutler Formation. The bottom layer is slope-forming Halgaito Formation and the upper stratum is cliff-forming Cedar Mesa Sandstone.[6] Cedar Mesa Sandstone is the remains of coastal sand dunes deposited about 270 to 300 million years ago, during the Wolfcampian (early Permian).[7] The buttes of Valley of the Gods are the result of the Halgaito Formation being more easily eroded than the overlaying sandstone. The valley floor is Honaker Trail Formation.[8]

Climate

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Spring and fall are the most favorable seasons to visit Castle Butte. According to the Köppen climate classification system, it is located in a cold semi-arid climate zone with cold winters and hot summers.[9] Summers highs rarely exceed 100 °F (38 °C). Summer nights are comfortably cool, and temperatures drop quickly after sunset. Winters are cold, but daytime highs are usually above freezing. Winter temperatures below 0 °F (−18 °C) are uncommon, though possible. This desert climate receives less than 10 inches (250 millimeters) of annual rainfall, and snowfall is generally light during the winter.

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  • Southwest aspect
    Southwest aspect
  • South aspect, centered
    South aspect, centered
  • West aspect
    West aspect
  • East aspect
    East aspect
  • Castle Butte to the right
    Castle Butte to the right
  • Castle Butte to the right
    Castle Butte to the right

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f "Castle Butte - 5,700' UT". listsofjohn.com. Retrieved 2024-08-31.
  2. ^ a b c d "Eagle Plume Tower, Utah". Peakbagger.com. Retrieved 2024-08-31.
  3. ^ a b c "Castle Butte". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior. Retrieved 2024-08-31.
  4. ^ Valley of the Gods, Bureau of Land Management, Retrieved 2024-08-31.
  5. ^ First Ascent Timeline, deserttowersbook.com, Retrieved 2024-08-31.
  6. ^ Robert Brett O'Sullivan, Geology of the Cedar Mesa-Boundary Butte Area, San Juan County, Utah, U.S. Government Printing Office, 1965, p. 34.
  7. ^ Baars, D.L. (1962). "Permian System of Colorado Plateau". AAPG Bulletin. 46 (2): 149–218. doi:10.1306/BC74376F-16BE-11D7-8645000102C1865D.
  8. ^ Dan S. Chaney, The Carboniferous-Permian Transition, New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science, 2013, p. 64.
  9. ^ Peel, M. C.; Finlayson, B. L. & McMahon, T. A. (2007). "Updated world map of the Köppen−Geiger climate classification". Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci. 11 (5): 1633–1644. Bibcode:2007HESS...11.1633P. doi:10.5194/hess-11-1633-2007. ISSN 1027-5606. S2CID 9654551.
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