Monster Tower is a tall sandstone tower located in the Island in the Sky District of Canyonlands National Park, in San Juan County,

Utah Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to it ...

, United States.

Description

The tower is situated 300 feet southeast of Washer Woman, which is a towering arch nearly as high. Washer Woman is so named because the feature gives the appearance of a woman bent over a washtub. Monster and Washer Woman are an eroded

fin A fin is a thin component or appendage attached to a larger body or structure. Fins typically function as foils that produce lift or thrust, or provide the ability to steer or stabilize motion while traveling in water, air, or other fluids. Fin ...

composed of

Wingate Sandstone The Wingate Sandstone is a geologic formation in the Glen Canyon Group of the Colorado Plateau province of the United States which crops out in northern Arizona, northwest Colorado, Nevada, and Utah. Geology Wingate Sandstone is particularly ...

, which is the remains of wind-borne sand dunes deposited approximately 200 million years ago in the

Late Triassic The Late Triassic is the third and final epoch of the Triassic Period in the geologic time scale, spanning the time between Ma and Ma (million years ago). It is preceded by the Middle Triassic Epoch and followed by the Early Jurassic Epoch. ...

. The nearest higher neighbor is Aztec Butte, to the west-northwest, Airport Tower is set to the east, and Mesa Arch is situated to the west. A short hike to Mesa Arch provides the easiest view of Monster Tower. Access to the tower is via the four-wheel drive

White Rim Road The White Rim Road is a unpaved four-wheel drive road that traverses the top of the White Rim Sandstone formation below the Island in the Sky mesa of Canyonlands National Park in southern Utah in the United States. The road was constructed in t ...

, which is the other way to see Monster. The top of this geological formation rises 1,400 feet above the road in approximately one mile. Precipitation

runoff Runoff, run-off or RUNOFF may refer to: * RUNOFF, the first computer text-formatting program * Runoff or run-off, another name for bleed, printing that lies beyond the edges to which a printed sheet is trimmed * Runoff or run-off, a stock marke ...

from Monster Tower drains southeast into the nearby

Colorado River The Colorado River ( es, Río Colorado) is one of the principal rivers (along with the Rio Grande) in the Southwestern United States and northern Mexico. The river drains an expansive, arid watershed that encompasses parts of seven U.S. s ...

via Buck Canyon.

Climbing

The

first ascent In mountaineering, a first ascent (abbreviated to FA in guide books) is the first successful, documented attainment of the top of a mountain or the first to follow a particular climbing route. First mountain ascents are notable because they en ...

of Monster Tower was made in December 1963 by Layton Kor, Larry Dalke, and Cub Schaefer via the South Ridge (). The best route on Monster is the North Ridge, which was first climbed in 1981 by Ken Trout and Kirk Miller. Another alpine route, ''Monster of Rock'' (5.11) on the south face, was first climbed in 1982 by Edward Webster and Chester Dreiman. ''Los Banditos'' is an aid climb.Monster Tower thecrag.com
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Climate

Spring and fall are the most favorable seasons to visit Monster Tower. According to the

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, notabl ...

system, it is located in a

Cold semi-arid climate A semi-arid climate, semi-desert climate, or steppe climate is a dry climate sub-type. It is located on regions that receive precipitation below potential evapotranspiration, but not as low as a desert climate. There are different kinds of semi-ar ...

zone, which is defined by the coldest month having an average mean temperature below −0 °C (32 °F) and at least 50% of the total annual precipitation being received during the spring and summer. This desert climate receives less than of annual rainfall, and snowfall is generally light during the winter.

Gallery

File:Monster Tower Canyonlands.jpg, Washer Woman, Monster Tower, and

Airport Tower Air traffic control (ATC) is a service provided by ground-based air traffic controllers who direct aircraft on the ground and through a given section of controlled airspace, and can provide advisory services to aircraft in non-controlled airsp ...

seen from west File:Monster Tower near Moab.jpg, Washer Woman and Monster Tower File:Washer Woman Arch from Mesa Arch.jpg, Monster Tower to right File:Monster Tower from Mesa Arch.jpg, Monster Tower from Mesa Arch File:Monster Tower and Washer Woman Arch (35365770-c80e-4b89-89db-1d6837dcca73).jpg, Monster and Washer Woman from ESE at Buck Canyon File:Monster Tower and Washerwoman Arch (7257520642).jpg File:Mesa Arch, Moab, United States (Unsplash).jpg, Monster framed by Mesa Arch File:Monster Tower, Canyonlands.jpg File:Monster Tower utah.jpg

References

External links