Church Rock (Arizona)
{{Short description|Pillar in Navajo County, Arizona, US}}
{{Infobox mountain
| name = Church Rock
| other_name =
| photo = Church Rock 2.jpg
| photo_size =
| photo_alt =
| photo_caption = Southwest aspect
| elevation_ft = 5,862
| elevation_ref = {{ngvd29}}{{cite loj |id=73957 |name=Church Rock AZ |accessdate=2016-08-24}}
| prominence_ft = 472
| location = Navajo County, Arizona, U.S.
| map = Arizona#USA
|map_caption = Location in Arizona
|map_size = 230
|label_position = bottom
| coordinates = {{coord|36.7344445|N|110.1187371|W|type:mountain_region:US-AZ_scale:100000_source:GNIS|format=dms|display=inline,title}}
| range_coordinates =
| coordinates_ref = {{cite gnis |id=2914 |name=Church Rock |accessdate=2016-08-24}}
| topo = USGS Church Rock
|rock = Volcanic breccia
|age = Oligocene
}}
Church Rock is a pillar in Navajo County, Arizona. It is located near the mouth of Church Rock Valley with a summit elevation of {{convert|5,862|ft}}. It is situated {{convert|7.5|mi}} east of the community of Kayenta, on Navajo Nation land, and can be seen from Highway 160 as it rises 400 feet above Church Rock Valley. It is one of the eroded volcanic plugs, or diatremes, of the Navajo Volcanic Field, which is a volcanic field that includes intrusions and flows of minette and other unusual igneous rocks which formed around 30 million years ago during the Oligocene.Steven C. Semken, "The Navajo Volcanic Field", in Volcanology in New Mexico, New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science Bulletin 18, p. 79, 2001. {{ISSN|1524-4156}}
History
Church Rock was originally named Artenesales de Piedra or Sculpted Rock, by the Mexican merchant and explorer Antonio Armijo in 1829–1830, when the area was explored by his expedition to find a trade route between Santa Fe de Nuevo México and Alta California. This would become the Armijo Route of the Old Spanish Trail.[http://www.oldspanishtrail.org/assets/downloads/Armijo1830SpanishDiaryUNMRoneyDec09.pdf. Diario que formo yo el ciudando Antonio Armijo, como comandante, para el descubrimiento del camino para el punto de las Californias (Diary made by citizen Antonio Armijo as commandant for the discovery of the route to the Californias), Official Register of the Government the United States of Mexico, 1830, pp. 205–06][https://www.jstor.org/stable/3816035 LeRoy R. Hafen and Antonio Armijo, Armijo's Journal, Huntington Library Quarterly, Vol. 11, No. 1 (Nov., 1947), pp. 87–101, University of California Press], {{doi|10.2307/3816035}}
Gallery
File:Church Rock. Near Kayenta, Arizona.jpg|Southwest aspect
File:Church Rock (Navajo Volcanic Field, northeastern Arizona, USA).jpg|Southeast aspect
File:Church Rock, Arizona.jpg
File:Church Rock in Navajo Country.jpg
File:Church Rock AZ.jpg
File:Church Rock (Arizona).jpg
Climate
Spring and fall are the most favorable seasons to visit Church Rock. According to the Köppen climate classification system, it is located in a semi-arid climate zone with cold winters and hot summers. Summers average 54 days above {{convert|90|°F|°C}} annually, and 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.[http://www.weatherbase.com/weather/weather-summary.php3?s=875420&cityname=Kayenta%2C+Arizona%2C+United+States+of+America&units= Climate Summary for Kayenta, Arizona]
References
{{reflist|22em}}