Steptoe Butte
Template:Short description Template:Use mdy dates Script error: No such module "Infobox".Template:Template otherScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". Steptoe Butte is a quartzite island jutting out of the silty loess of the Palouse hills in Whitman County, Washington, in the northwest United States. The Script error: No such module "convert". butte is preserved as Steptoe Butte State Park Heritage Site, a publicly owned Script error: No such module "convert". recreation area located Script error: No such module "convert". north of Colfax.[1]
Steptoe Butte and nearby Kamiak Butte comprise Steptoe and Kamiak Buttes National Natural Landmark. This Script error: No such module "convert". area, designated in 1965, includes land in state and county ownership.[2]
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 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".[1] Steptoe and Kamiak Buttes are outliers of Idaho's Coeur d'Alene Mountains.[2]
- Elevation: Script error: No such module "convert". above sea level, approximately Script error: No such module "convert". above the surrounding countryside (prominence).
- Visibility: Up to Script error: No such module "convert".. Mount Spokane is easily visible, Script error: No such module "convert". to the north.[3]
History
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The butte was named after Colonel Edward Steptoe.[1] A hotel built by James S. "Cashup" Davis stood atop the butte from 1888 to 1908, burning down in 1911.[4] In 1946, Virgil McCroskey donated Script error: No such module "convert". of land to form the park, which was later increased to over Script error: No such module "convert"..[1] 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 Script error: No such module "convert". of land from development, eventually donating it to the state.[5] 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.[1] Popular activities include sight-seeing, paragliding, hang gliding, kite and model airplane flying, and photography.
Gallery
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References
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External links
- Steptoe Butte State Park Heritage Site Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission
- Steptoe Butte State Park Heritage Site Map Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission
Template:Washington State hills and ridges Template:Protected Areas of Washington
- Pages with script errors
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- State parks of Washington (state)
- Parks in Whitman County, Washington
- Landforms of Whitman County, Washington
- Quartzite formations
- Buttes of Washington (state)
- 1946 establishments in Washington (state)
- Protected areas established in 1946
- Parks established in the 1940s