Battleship Rock

{{Infobox mountain

|name = Battleship Rock

|photo = Utah Valley of the Gods Scene (44191369540).jpg

|photo_caption = Northwest aspect

|elevation_ft = 5422

|elevation_ref ={{cite web|url=https://listsofjohn.com/peak/23649|title=Battleship Rock - 5,422' UT|website=listsofjohn.com|access-date=2024-08-31}}

|prominence_ft = 522

|prominence_ref =

|isolation_mi = 1.12

|isolation_ref =

|parent_peak = "The Putterman Residence"

|map = Utah#USA

|map_caption = Location in Utah

|map_size = 230

|label_position = top

|location = Valley of the Gods
San Juan County, Utah, U.S.

|range = Colorado Plateau

|coordinates = {{coord|37.2925008|N|109.8367919|W|type:mountain_region:US-AZ_scale:100000_source:GNIS|format=dms|display=inline,title}}

|coordinates_ref ={{cite gnis|id=1435006|name=Battleship Rock|access-date=2024-08-31}}

|topo = USGS Cigarette Spring Cave

|rock = Sandstone

| age = Permian

|type = Butte

|first_ascent =

|easiest_route = {{YDS|5.2}} climbing

}}

Battleship Rock is a {{convert|5422|ft|meter|adj=mid|-elevation|abbr=off|sp=us}} summit in San Juan County, Utah, United States.

Description

Battleship Rock is situated {{convert|15.5|mi|km}} west of Bluff, Utah, in the Valley of the Gods, on land administered by the Bureau of Land Management.[https://www.blm.gov/visit/valley-gods Valley of the Gods], Bureau of Land Management, Retrieved 2024-08-31. Precipitation runoff from this iconic landform's slopes drains to the San Juan River via Lime Creek. Access to the butte is via the 17-mile Valley of the Gods Road which passes near this butte. Topographic relief is significant as the summit rises nearly {{convert|600.|ft|m|abbr=off|sp=us}} above the valley floor in 0.25 mile (0.4 km). This landform's toponym has been officially adopted by the United States Board on Geographic Names.

Geology

Battleship Rock 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.Robert Brett O'Sullivan, Geology of the Cedar Mesa-Boundary Butte Area, San Juan County, Utah, U.S. Government Printing Office, 1965, p. 34. Cedar Mesa Sandstone is the remains of coastal sand dunes deposited about 270 to 300 million years ago, during the Wolfcampian (early Permian).{{cite journal |last1=Baars |first1=D.L. |title=Permian System of Colorado Plateau |journal=AAPG Bulletin |date=1962 |volume=46 |issue=2 |pages=149–218 |doi=10.1306/BC74376F-16BE-11D7-8645000102C1865D}} 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.[https://books.google.com/books?id=5f4oCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA64&dq=honaker+trail+formation+valley+of+the+gods&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjljrKI556IAxWHJTQIHXDQLDAQuwV6BAgFEAY#v=onepage&q=honaker%20trail%20formation%20valley%20of%20the%20gods&f=false Dan S. Chaney, The Carboniferous-Permian Transition], New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science, 2013, p. 64.

Climate

Spring and fall are the most favorable seasons to visit Battleship Rock. According to the Köppen climate classification system, it is located in a cold semi-arid climate zone with cold winters and hot summers.{{cite journal | author = Peel, M. C. |author2=Finlayson, B. L. |author3=McMahon, T. A. |name-list-style=amp | year = 2007 | title = Updated world map of the Köppen−Geiger climate classification | journal = Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci. | volume = 11 |issue=5 | pages = 1633–1644 |doi=10.5194/hess-11-1633-2007 |bibcode=2007HESS...11.1633P |s2cid=9654551 | issn = 1027-5606|doi-access=free }} Summers highs rarely exceed {{convert|100|°F|°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 {{convert|0|°F|°C}} are uncommon, though possible. This desert climate receives less than {{convert|10|in|mm|abbr=off|sp=us}} of annual rainfall, and snowfall is generally light during the winter.