Chimney Rock (Jackson Butte)

Chimney Rock is a 6,110-foot (1,860 meter) elevation pillar located within the Ute Mountain Tribal Park, in Montezuma County of southwest Colorado.[2] This landmark is situated one mile southeast of the junction of U.S. Route 491 and US 160, and towers 900 feet above the floor of the Mancos River Valley. This geographical feature is also known as Jackson Butte, named for William Henry Jackson (1843–1942), photographer and explorer famous for his images of the American West who visited this area during the Hayden Survey.[3] He was the first to photograph the cliff dwellings in this Mesa Verde region of the Four Corners area.

Chimney Rock
Jackson Butte
Southwest aspect
Highest point
Elevation6,110 ft (1,860 m)[1]
Prominence690 ft (210 m)[1]
Parent peakWest Ute Mesa (7,088 ft)[1]
Isolation3.71 mi (5.97 km)[1]
Coordinates37°04′41″N 108°43′07″W / 37.0780500°N 108.7187061°W / 37.0780500; -108.7187061[2]
Geography
Chimney Rock is located in Colorado
Chimney Rock
Chimney Rock
Location in Colorado
Chimney Rock is located in the United States
Chimney Rock
Chimney Rock
Chimney Rock (the United States)
LocationMontezuma County, Colorado, U.S.
Parent rangeColorado Plateau
Topo mapUSGS Tanner Mesa
Geology
Rock ageCretaceous
Rock typePoint Lookout Sandstone
Climbing
Easiest routeclass 5.x climbing[1]

Geology

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Chimney Rock is located on the Colorado Plateau, and is composed of Cretaceous Point Lookout Sandstone, which is the oldest of the three formations that make up the Mesaverde Group which is common to the Mesa Verde region.[4][5] The cliff-forming Point Lookout Sandstone overlays a pedestal of softer, slope-forming Mancos Shale.[6] Precipitation runoff from this feature drains into the Mancos River watershed.

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See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c d e "Chimney Rock - 6,110' CO". listsofjohn.com. Retrieved 2020-12-05.
  2. ^ a b "Chimney Rock". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior. Retrieved 2020-12-05.
  3. ^ National Geographic, Volume 175, 1989, page 247.
  4. ^ Ann G. Harris, Esther Tuttle, Sherwood D. Tuttle, "Geology of National Parks", 6th Ed., Kendall/Hunt Publishing, 2004.
  5. ^ R. B. O'Sullivan, C. A. Repenning, E. C. Beaumont, H. G. Page. Stratigraphy of the Cretaceous Rocks and the Tertiary Ojo Alamo Sandstone, Navajo and Hopi Indian Reservations, Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah, US Government Printing Office, 1972, page E43.
  6. ^ Robert S. Zech, Richard L. Reynolds, Joseph G. Rosenbaum, and Isabelle K. Brownfield, Heavy-Mineral Placer Deposits of the Ute Mountain Ute Indian Reservation, Southwestern Colorado and Northwestern New Mexico, U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 2061-B, 1994, page B6.
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