Steptoe Butte is a

quartzite Quartzite is a hard, non- foliated metamorphic rock which was originally pure quartz sandstone.Essentials of Geology, 3rd Edition, Stephen Marshak, p 182 Sandstone is converted into quartzite through heating and pressure usually related to tect ...

island jutting out of the silty

loess Loess (, ; from german: Löss ) is a clastic, predominantly silt-sized sediment that is formed by the accumulation of wind-blown dust. Ten percent of Earth's land area is covered by loess or similar deposits. Loess is a periglacial or aeolian ...

of the

Palouse The Palouse ( ) is a distinct geographic region of the northwestern United States, encompassing parts of north central Idaho, southeastern Washington, and, by some definitions, parts of northeast Oregon. It is a major agricultural area, primaril ...

hills in

Whitman County, Washington Whitman County is a county located in the U.S. state of Washington. As of the 2020 census, the population was 47,973. The county seat is Colfax, and its largest city is Pullman. The county was formed from Stevens County in 1871. It is named ...

, in the

northwest The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each sep ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. The

butte __NOTOC__ In geomorphology, a butte () is an isolated hill with steep, often vertical sides and a small, relatively flat top; buttes are smaller landforms than mesas, plateaus, and tablelands. The word ''butte'' comes from a French word mea ...

is preserved as Steptoe Butte State Park, a publicly owned recreation area located north of Colfax. Steptoe Butte and nearby

Kamiak Butte Kamiak Butte County Park is located in Whitman County, Washington between the towns of Palouse and Pullman in Eastern Washington, near the border of Idaho. It is named after Chief Kamiakin of the Yakama tribe. Most of the park's consist of tim ...

comprise Steptoe and Kamiak Buttes

National Natural Landmark The National Natural Landmarks (NNL) Program recognizes and encourages the conservation of outstanding examples of the natural history of the United States. It is the only national natural areas program that identifies and recognizes the best ...

. This area, designated in 1965, includes land in state and countyownership.

Geology

The rock that forms the butte is over 400 million years old, in contrast with the 15–7 million year old

Columbia River Basalts The Columbia River Basalt Group is the youngest, smallest and one of the best-preserved continental flood basalt province on Earth, covering over mainly eastern Oregon and Washington, western Idaho, and part of northern Nevada. The basalt grou ...

that underlie the rest of the Palouse. Steptoe Butte has become an archetype, as isolated protrusions of bedrock, such as summits of hills or mountains, in lava flows have come to be called "steptoes". Steptoe and Kamiak Buttes are outliers of

Idaho Idaho ( ) is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. To the north, it shares a small portion of the Canada–United States border with the province of British Columbia. It borders the states of Montana and Wyom ...

Coeur d'Alene Mountains The Coeur d'Alene Mountains are the northwesternmost portion of the Bitterroot Range, part of the Rocky Mountains, located in northern Idaho and westernmost Montana in the Western United States. The mountain range spans an area of and its two ...

. *

Elevation The elevation of a geographic location is its height above or below a fixed reference point, most commonly a reference geoid, a mathematical model of the Earth's sea level as an equipotential gravitational surface (see Geodetic datum § Vert ...

: above

sea level Mean sea level (MSL, often shortened to sea level) is an average surface level of one or more among Earth's coastal bodies of water from which heights such as elevation may be measured. The global MSL is a type of vertical datuma standardised g ...

, approximately above the surrounding countryside (

prominence In topography, prominence (also referred to as autonomous height, relative height, and shoulder drop in US English, and drop or relative height in British English) measures the height of a mountain or hill's summit relative to the lowest contou ...

). *Visibility: Up to .

Mount Spokane Mount Spokane levation ��previously known as Mount Baldy until 1912 due to its pronounced bald spot—is a mountain in the Pacific Northwest, northwest United States, located northeast of Spokane, Washington, Spokane, Washington (state), Was ...

is easily visible, to the north.

History

The butte was named after

Colonel Edward Steptoe Edward Jenner Steptoe (November 7, 1815 – April 1, 1865) was an officer in the United States Army who served in the Mexican-American War and the Indian Wars. He is primarily remembered for his defeat at the Battle of Pine Creek during the Spok ...

. A hotel built by James S. "Cashup" Davis stood atop the butte from 1888 to 1908, burning down in 1911. In 1946, Virgil McCroskey donated of land to form the park, which was later increased to over . The east,south and west portions of the butte were purchased in 2016 by two couples Kent and Elaine Bassett, and Ray and Joan Folwell. The owners planned to protect their of land from development, eventually donating it to the state. This plan came to fruition when they sold the land to the Washington State Department of Natural Resources in December 2021.

Activities and amenities

A narrow paved road winds around the butte, leading to a parking area at the summit. The park offers picnicking facilities and an interpretive wayside exhibit. Popular activities include sight-seeing, paragliding, hang gliding, kite and

model airplane A model aircraft is a small unmanned aircraft. Many are replicas of real aircraft. Model aircraft are divided into two basic groups: flying and non-flying. Non-flying models are also termed static, display, or shelf models. Aircraft manufactur ...

flying, and photography.

Gallery

References

External links

Steptoe Butte State Park Heritage Site
Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission
Steptoe Butte State Park Map
Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission {{authority control State parks of Washington (state) Parks in Whitman County, Washington Landforms of Whitman County, Washington Quartzite formations Buttes of Washington (state)