Rooster Butte

{{Infobox mountain

|name = Rooster Butte

|other_name = Petard Tower

|photo = Valley of the Gods - Rooster Butte.jpg

|photo_caption = North aspect

|elevation_ft = 5145.

|elevation_ref ={{cite gnis|id=1431991|name=Rooster Butte|access-date=2024-08-31}}

|prominence_ft = 360.

|prominence_ref ={{cite web|url=https://listsofjohn.com/peak/24019|title=Rooster Butte - 5,140' UT|website=listsofjohn.com|access-date=2024-08-31}}

|isolation_mi = 1.12

|isolation_ref =

|parent_peak = Bears Ears

|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|37.2761965|N|109.8112047|W|type:mountain_region:US-AZ_scale:100000_source:GNIS|format=dms|display=inline,title}}

|coordinates_ref =

|topo = USGS Cigarette Spring Cave

|rock = Sandstone

| age = Permian

|type = Butte

|first_ascent = 1977

|easiest_route = {{YDS|5.9}} climbing

}}

Rooster Butte is a {{convert|5145|ft|meter|adj=mid|-elevation|abbr=off|sp=us}} summit in San Juan County, Utah, United States.

Description

Rooster Butte is situated {{convert|14|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 east of this butte. Topographic relief is significant as the summit rises {{convert|400.|ft|m|abbr=off|sp=us}} above the surrounding terrain in 0.1 mile (0.16 km). This landform's toponym has been officially adopted as Rooster Butte by the United States Board on Geographic Names, however it is also known as "Petard Tower" and "Prairie Dog on a Mound" by some rock climbers and locals.Cameron Burns, Selected Climbs in the Desert Southwest: Colorado and Utah, The Mountaineers Books, 1999, {{ISBN|9780898866575}}, p. 153. The first ascent of the summit was made on May 23, 1977, by George Hurley and Dave Rearick.[https://www.deserttowersbook.com/first-ascent-timeline First Ascent Timeline], deserttowersbook.com, Retrieved 2024-08-31.

Geology

Rooster 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.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 Rooster Butte. 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.

Gallery

File:Rooster Butte from Southeast.jpg|Southeast aspect

File:Rooster Butte.jpg|Southeast aspect

File:Utah Valley of the Gods Rooster Butte.jpg|Northwest aspect

File:Valley of the Gods sep 2012 02.jpg|South aspect of Rooster Butte (left) and Setting Hen Butte (right)

File:2004-05-07 68 - Valley of the Gods, UT.jpg|Rooster Butte (left) and Setting Hen Butte (right)

File:Valley of the Gods (37036605476).jpg|Rooster Butte (right) and Setting Hen Butte (left)

References

External links

Petard Tower Rock Climbing: [https://www.mountainproject.com/area/105954306/petard-tower Mountainproject.com]
Weather: [https://www.yr.no/en/forecast/daily-table/2-5546064/United%20States/Utah/San%20Juan/Rooster%20Butte Rooster Butte]
Rooster Butte (photo): [https://www.flickr.com/photos/zruda/24219174719/in/album-72157663323612250 Flickr]

{{Geographic Location 2

| Center = Rooster Butte

| North = Cedar Mesa

| Northeast = Lime Creek

| East = Valley of the Gods Road

| Southeast = Setting Hen Butte

| South = Seven Sailors

| Southwest = West Fork Lime Creek

| West = Lady in the Bathtub

| Northwest = Franklin Butte

}}

Category:Colorado Plateau