Setting Hen Butte

{{Infobox mountain

|name = Setting Hen Butte

|other_name =

|photo = Setting Hen Butte - Valley of the Gods, UT.jpg

|photo_caption = South aspect

|elevation_ft = 5055

|elevation_ref ={{cite web|url=https://listsofjohn.com/peak/24032|title=Setting Hen Butte - 5,055' UT|website=listsofjohn.com|access-date=2024-08-31}}

|prominence_ft = 235

|prominence_ref =

|isolation_mi = 0.42

|isolation_ref =

|parent_peak = Rooster Butte

|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|37.2712539|N|109.8070119|W|type:mountain_region:US-AZ_scale:100000_source:GNIS|format=dms|display=inline,title}}

|coordinates_ref ={{cite gnis|id=1432332|name=Setting Hen Butte|access-date=2024-08-31}}

|topo = USGS Cigarette Spring Cave

|rock = Sandstone

| age = Permian

|type = Butte

|first_ascent =

|easiest_route = {{YDS|5.7}} climbing

}}

Setting Hen Butte is a {{convert|5055|ft|meter|adj=mid|-elevation|abbr=off|sp=us}} summit in San Juan County, Utah, United States.

Description

Setting Hen Butte is situated {{convert|13.5|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 east of this butte. Topographic relief is significant as the summit rises {{convert|300.|ft|m|abbr=off|sp=us}} above the surrounding terrain in 0.1 mile (0.16 km). This landform's descriptive toponym has been officially adopted by the United States Board on Geographic Names. It is also known as "The Anvil" by some rock climbers. Setting Hen Butte should not be confused with another butte named Setting Hen within the same county but further southwest at Monument Valley.

Geology

Setting Hen 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. 36. 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 Setting Hen 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 |url=https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00298818/file/hessd-4-439-2007.pdf }} 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.