| Castle Butte | |
| Other Name: | Eagle Plume Tower |
| Elevation Ft: | 5700. |
| Elevation Ref: | [1] |
| Prominence Ft: | 560. |
| Isolation Mi: | 2.34 |
| Parent Peak: | Bears Ears |
| Map: | Utah#USA |
| Map Size: | 230 |
| Label Position: | top |
| Location: | Valley of the Gods San Juan County, Utah, U.S. |
| Range: | Colorado Plateau[2] |
| Coordinates: | 37.3144°N -109.8542°W |
| Coordinates Ref: | [3] |
| Topo: | USGS Cigarette Spring Cave |
| Rock: | Sandstone |
| Age: | Permian |
| Type: | Butte |
| First Ascent: | 1976 |
| Easiest Route: | climbing |
Castle Butte is a 5700feet summit in San Juan County, Utah, United States.[3]
Castle Butte is situated 16miles 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 600abbr=offNaNabbr=off 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]
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]
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. 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 are uncommon, though possible. This desert climate receives less than 10abbr=offNaNabbr=off of annual rainfall, and snowfall is generally light during the winter.