Ford Butte is a elevation summit located on Navajo Nation land in San Juan County of northwest New Mexico, United States. It is a landmark set one mile east of U.S. Route 491, along with its nearest higher neighbor, Bennett Peak, on the opposite side of the highway. Ford Butte is one of the major diatremes of the Four Corners area, and with significant relief as it rises above the high-desert plain.Robert Julyan, The Mountains of New Mexico, 2006, University of New Mexico Press, page 109. It is situated about south-southeast of Shiprock, the most famous of these diatremes. Ford Butte is set in the northeastern part of the Navajo Volcanic Field, a volcanic field that includes intrusions and flows of minette and other unusual igneous rocks which formed around 30 million years ago during the Oligocene.Steven C. Semken, The Navajo Volcanic Field, in Volcanology in New Mexico, New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science Bulletin 18, p. 79, 2001. This geographical feature's name was officially adopted in 1915 by the U.S. Board on Geographic Names.
Climbing The first ascent of the north summit was made in 1971 by Mark Dalen and David Nordstrom via a route.Cameron M. Burns, Roaming the Chuska, American Alpine Journal, 1994, page 62.Cameron M. Burns, American Alpine Club, 1993 The south summit was first climbed April 6, 1990, by Cameron Burns and Mike Baker via a class 5.9 route.Cameron M. Burns, North America, United States, New Mexico, Ford Butte, American Alpine Club, 1992 Climbing here requires permission from Navajo authorities.
Climate According to the Köppen climate classification system, Ford Butte is located in a semi-arid climate zone with cold winters and hot summers. Ford Butte is within the Chaco River drainage basin.
See also Rock formations in the United States Volcanic plug
References
External links Weather forecast: National Weather Service Ford Butte rock climbing: Mountainproject.com