# Rooster Butte

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**Rooster Butte** is a 5,145-foot (1,568-meter) [summit](/source/Summit) in [San Juan County](/source/San_Juan_County,_Utah), [Utah](/source/Utah), United States.

## Description

Rooster Butte is situated 14 miles (23 km) west of [Bluff, Utah](/source/Bluff,_Utah), in the [Valley of the Gods](/source/Valley_of_the_Gods), on land administered by the [Bureau of Land Management](/source/Bureau_of_Land_Management).[3] Precipitation runoff from this iconic landform's slopes drains to the [San Juan River](/source/San_Juan_River_(Colorado_River_tributary)) via Lime Creek. Access to the butte is via the 17-mile Valley of the Gods Road which passes east of this butte. [Topographic relief](/source/Topographic_relief) is significant as the summit rises 400. feet (122 meters) above the surrounding terrain in 0.1 mile (0.16 km). This landform's toponym has been officially adopted as Rooster Butte by the [United States Board on Geographic Names](/source/United_States_Board_on_Geographic_Names),[4] however it is also known as "Petard Tower" and "Prairie Dog on a Mound" by some rock climbers and locals.[1][2] The [first ascent](/source/First_ascent) of the summit was made on May 23, 1977, by George Hurley and Dave Rearick.[5]

## Geology

Rooster Butte is composed of two principal strata of the [Cutler Formation](/source/Cutler_Formation). The bottom layer is slope-forming [Halgaito Formation](/source/Halgaito_Formation) and the upper stratum is cliff-forming [Cedar Mesa Sandstone](/source/Cedar_Mesa_Sandstone).[6] Cedar Mesa Sandstone is the remains of coastal [sand dunes](/source/Dune) deposited about 270 to 300 million years ago, during the [Wolfcampian](/source/Wolfcampian) (early [Permian](/source/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](/source/Honaker_Trail_Formation).[8]

## Climate

Spring and fall are the most favorable seasons to visit Rooster Butte. According to the [Köppen climate classification](/source/K%C3%B6ppen_climate_classification) system, it is located in a [cold semi-arid climate](/source/Semi-arid_climate#Cold_semi-arid_climates) zone with cold winters and hot summers.[9] Summers highs rarely exceed 100 °F (38 °C). Summer nights are comfortably cool, and temperatures [drop quickly](/source/Diurnal_temperature_variation) after sunset. Winters are cold, but daytime highs are usually above freezing. Winter temperatures below 0 °F (−18 °C) are uncommon, though possible. This desert climate receives less than 10 inches (250 millimeters) of annual rainfall, and snowfall is generally light during the winter.

## Gallery

## See also

- [Castle Butte (Valley of the Gods)](/source/Castle_Butte_(Valley_of_the_Gods))

## References

1. ["Rooster Butte - 5,140' UT"](https://listsofjohn.com/peak/24019). *listsofjohn.com*. Retrieved 2024-08-31.

1. Cameron Burns, *Selected Climbs in the Desert Southwest: Colorado and Utah*, The Mountaineers Books, 1999, ISBN 9780898866575, p. 153.

1. [*Valley of the Gods*](https://www.blm.gov/visit/valley-gods), Bureau of Land Management, Retrieved 2024-08-31.

1. 1431991. Retrieved 2024-08-31.

1. [*First Ascent Timeline*](https://www.deserttowersbook.com/first-ascent-timeline), deserttowersbook.com, Retrieved 2024-08-31.

1. Robert Brett O'Sullivan, *Geology of the Cedar Mesa-Boundary Butte Area, San Juan County, Utah*, U.S. Government Printing Office, 1965, p. 34.

1. Baars, D.L. (1962). "Permian System of Colorado Plateau". *AAPG Bulletin*. **46** (2): 149–218. [doi:10.1306/BC74376F-16BE-11D7-8645000102C1865D](https://doi.org/10.1306/BC74376F-16BE-11D7-8645000102C1865D)

1. [Dan S. Chaney, *The Carboniferous-Permian Transition*](https://books.google.com/books?id=5f4oCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA64&dq=honaker+trail+formation+valley+of+the+gods&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjljrKI556IAxWHJTQIHXDQLDAQuwV6BAgFEAY#v=onepage&q=honaker%20trail%20formation%20valley%20of%20the%20gods&f=false), New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science, 2013, p. 64.

1. Peel, M. C.; Finlayson, B. L.; & McMahon, T. A. (2007). "Updated world map of the Köppen−Geiger climate classification". *Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci.*. **11** (5): 1633–1644. [Bibcode:2007HESS...11.1633P](https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2007HESS...11.1633P). [doi:10.5194/hess-11-1633-2007](https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-11-1633-2007). [ISSN 1027-5606](https://www.worldcat.org/issn/1027-5606). [S2CID 9654551](https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:9654551)

## External links

- Petard Tower Rock Climbing: [Mountainproject.com](https://www.mountainproject.com/area/105954306/petard-tower)
- Weather: [Rooster Butte](https://www.yr.no/en/forecast/daily-table/2-5546064/United%20States/Utah/San%20Juan/Rooster%20Butte)
- Rooster Butte (photo): [Flickr](https://www.flickr.com/photos/zruda/24219174719/in/album-72157663323612250)

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Rooster Butte](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rooster_Butte) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rooster_Butte?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.