Smithsonian Butte is a elevation

summit A summit is a point on a surface that is higher in elevation than all points immediately adjacent to it. The topography, topographic terms acme, apex, peak (mountain peak), and zenith are synonymous. The term (mountain top) is generally used ...

located in the

Canaan Mountain Wilderness Canaan Mountain Wilderness is a wilderness area in the US state of Utah. It was designated March 30, 2009, as part of the Omnibus Public Land Management Act of 2009. Located near the town of Hildale in southeastern Washington County, it bord ...

of Washington County in southwest

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

Smithsonian Butte is situated southwest of Rockville and four miles south of Zion National Park, and can be seen from

Utah State Route 9 State Route 9 (SR-9) is a state highway in southern Utah, serving Zion National Park. It starts at the western terminus at exit 16 on Interstate 15 (I-15), passing through Zion National Park, and ending at the eastern junction with U.S. Route ...

. Topographic relief is significant as it rises 2,000-feet (610-meters) in one mile on its south side, and 3,000 feet in three miles above the Virgin River on its north aspect which drains 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 market ...

from this mountain. Its nearest higher neighbor is Zion Butte, to the southeast, and

Eagle Crags Eagle Crags is a elevation summit located in the Canaan Mountain Wilderness of Washington County in southwest Utah, United States. Description Eagle Crags is situated southeast of Rockville and 2.5 miles south of Zion National Park, and ca ...

are four miles to the east-northeast. The uppermost part of this mountain is composed of light-colored

Jurassic The Jurassic ( ) is a Geological period, geologic period and System (stratigraphy), stratigraphic system that spanned from the end of the Triassic Period million years ago (Mya) to the beginning of the Cretaceous Period, approximately Mya. The J ...

Navajo Sandstone The Navajo Sandstone is a geological formation in the Glen Canyon Group that is spread across the U.S. states of southern Nevada, northern Arizona, northwest Colorado, and Utah as part of the Colorado Plateau province of the United States.Anonymou ...

which overlays the deep-red sandstone of the Kayenta Formation. This geographical feature was named by geologist

Clarence Edward Dutton Clarence Edward Dutton (May 15, 1841 – January 4, 1912) was an American geologist and US Army officer. Dutton was born in Wallingford, Connecticut on May 15, 1841. He graduated from Yale College in 1860 and took postgraduate courses there unti ...

(1841–1912) for the

Smithsonian Institution The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums and education and research centers, the largest such complex in the world, created by the U.S. government "for the increase and diffusion of knowledge". Founded ...

which had sponsored an exploration of the region, and the toponym was officially adopted in 1934 by the

U.S. Board on Geographic Names The United States Board on Geographic Names (BGN) is a federal body operating under the United States Secretary of the Interior. The purpose of the board is to establish and maintain uniform usage of geographic names throughout the federal governm ...

. From 1875 to 1877, Dutton's field party mapped of the high plateaus of southern Utah. The saddle between Smithsonian Butte and its parent Caanan Mountain is named Dutton Pass, after him. Access to this mountain is via the Smithsonian Butte National Back Country Byway.Peter Massey and Jeanne Wilson, ''4WD Trails Southwest Utah'', Swagman Publishing Company, 2001, page 49.

Gallery

File:Smithsonian Butte.jpg File:Smithsonian Butte, south aspect.jpg, South aspect File:Smithsonian Butte, Utah.jpg File:Smithsonian Butte near Zion Park.jpg File:Road to Zion.jpg File:Smithsonian Butte by Holmes.jpg, Smithsonian Butte depicted in a colored frontispiece chromolith by

William Henry Holmes William Henry Holmes (December 1, 1846 – April 20, 1933), known as W. H. Holmes, was an American explorer, anthropologist, archaeologist, artist, scientific illustrator, cartographer, mountain climber, geologist and museum curator and direc ...

, published in "Tertiary History of the Grand Canon District with Atlas", an 1882 monograph by Clarence E. Dutton

Climate

Spring and fall are the most favorable seasons to visit Smithsonian Butte. 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 , 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.

References

External links

{{commons category, Smithsonian Butte * Weather
Smithsonian Butte
Mountains of Utah Mountains of Washington County, Utah Sandstone formations of the United States Colorado Plateau North American 2000 m summits

Description

Gallery

Climate

See also

References

External links