The central portion of the mountain, from Rock Springs, Wyoming White Mountain is a long mountain located in central Sweetwater County, Wyoming, near the cities of Rock Springs and

Green River Green River may refer to: Rivers Canada * Green River (British Columbia), a tributary of the Lillooet River *Green River, a tributary of the Saint John River, also known by its French name of Rivière Verte *Green River (Ontario), a tributary of ...

. The mountain is part of the

Green River Formation The Green River Formation is an Eocene geologic formation that records the sedimentation in a group of intermountain lakes in three basins along the present-day Green River in Colorado, Wyoming, and Utah. The sediments are deposited in very fine ...

, and contains communications towers that serve a number of purposes. Hundreds of carved figures also dot the sandstone cliffs at the White Mountain Petroglyph site and range from 200 to 1000 years old. Pilot Butte, located on top of White Mountain, is accessible from roads on the mountain.

Geology

Like its neighbor, Wilkins Peak, White Mountain is a member of the Green River Formation, a formation of the

intermontane Intermontane is a physiographic adjective formed from the prefix " inter-" (''signifying among, between, amid, during, within, mutual, reciprocal'') and the adjective "montane" (inhabiting, or growing in mountainous regions, especially cool, moi ...

Lake Gosiute environment during the

Eocene epoch The Eocene ( ) Epoch is a geological epoch that lasted from about 56 to 33.9 million years ago (mya). It is the second epoch of the Paleogene Period in the modern Cenozoic Era. The name ''Eocene'' comes from the Ancient Greek (''ēṓs'', "daw ...

. White Mountain is part of the

Rock Springs Uplift The Rock Springs Uplift is an area of uplifted Cretaceous to Eocene rocks in Wyoming surrounded and once covered by sediments of the Green River Formation which were deposited in the Eocene Lake Gosiute.Surdam, Ronald C. and K. O. Stanley, ''Lacustr ...

, and some of the largest

oil shale Oil shale is an organic-rich fine-grained sedimentary rock containing kerogen (a solid mixture of organic chemical compounds) from which liquid hydrocarbons can be produced. In addition to kerogen, general composition of oil shales constitut ...

and

trona Trona (trisodium hydrogendicarbonate dihydrate, also sodium sesquicarbonate dihydrate, Na2CO3•2NaHCO3•3H2O) is a non-marine evaporite mineral. It is mined as the primary source of sodium carbonate in the United States, where it has replaced ...

beds in the region are located west of the mountain. White Mountain contains sediment from a subcategory of the Green River Formation, known as the '' Wilkins Peak Formation''. The peak itself is in elevation and is located from

Rock Springs, Wyoming Rock Springs is a city in Sweetwater County, Wyoming, United States. The population was 23,036 at the 2010 census, making it the fifth most populated city in the state of Wyoming, and the most populous city in Sweetwater County. Rock Springs is ...

and from

Green River, Wyoming Green River is a city in and the county seat of Sweetwater County, Wyoming, United States, in the southwestern part of the state. The population was 12,515 at the 2010 census. History The townsite of Green River, Dakota Territory was platted ...

Communication uses

White Mountain houses communication radio towers for a number of local and regional uses. A tower for the radio station K299AG broadcasts a religious radio format on 107.7 FM. Programming on the station comes from

KCSP-FM KCSP-FM (90.3 FM) is a non-commercial radio station located in Casper, Wyoming. KCSP airs a programming from Pilgrim Radio, a religious radio network based out of Nevada. KCSP serves a number of translator stations throughout the state of Wyomi ...

. The local cable company, Sweetwater Television, owns the tallest tower, on the center of the mountain. This tower can be seen in the picture above. K28JU-D, the local PBS affiliate of KCWC-DT broadcasts from space on the tower as well, and as of August 2009, is the only television station broadcasting from White Mountain. Located next to that tower are transmitters used by the local BLM office, as well as a tower for cellular telephones, owned by Union Wireless. On the side of the mountain facing Green River, two more radio towers are present. One of the towers is used for airport communications from a nearby

airport An airport is an aerodrome with extended facilities, mostly for commercial air transport. Airports usually consists of a landing area, which comprises an aerially accessible open space including at least one operationally active surfa ...

. The other, owned by

Verizon Wireless Verizon is an American wireless network operator that previously operated as a separate division of Verizon Communications under the name Verizon Wireless. In a 2019 reorganization, Verizon moved the wireless products and services into the div ...

is used for cellular telephone transmissions.

Pilot Butte

Pilot Butte is located directly on top of White Mountain, and was named by early travelers in the region as a signal that they were close to the

. Pilot Butte is also a part of the

Wild Horse The wild horse (''Equus ferus'') is a species of the genus ''Equus'', which includes as subspecies the modern domesticated horse (''Equus ferus caballus'') as well as the endangered Przewalski's horse (''Equus ferus przewalskii''). The Europea ...

tour, and several herds of wild horses have been spotted in the area. The butte is the second highest point in the immediate region, the first being Aspen Mountain to the south. It is in elevation at its highest point. The butte can be hiked, and used to contain a steel ladder to assist in reaching the summit.

Petroglyphs

Hundreds of carved figures dot the sandstone cliffs at the White Mountain Petroglyph site in Wyoming’s Red Desert. Etched into the stone surface some 200 to 1,000 years ago, several figures appear to portray bison and elk hunts while others depict geometric forms or tiny footprints. Handprints are worn into the rock as well, providing visitors with a compelling connection to those who used the site long ago.

References

External links

Wonders of Wyoming: White Mountain and Pilot Butte (Youtube video)

{{Authority control Mountains of Wyoming Mountains of Sweetwater County, Wyoming