Rocky Butte
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Rocky Butte rises to 174 m in Oregon. Pyramid Rock stands 1,091 m to the northeast, 20 miles off. The nearest named place is Joseph Wood Hill Park, a park less than a tenth of a mile away. Mount Hood passes 7.2 miles off.
The story
Rocky Butte (previously known as Mowich Illahee and Wiberg Butte) is an extinct cinder cone butte in Portland, Oregon, United States. It is also part of the Boring Lava Field, a group of volcanic vents and lava flows throughout Oregon and Washington state. The volcano erupted between 285,000 and 500,000 years ago. As part of the Boring Lava Field, Rocky Butte is considered an outlier of the Cascade Range. It was produced by the subduction of the oceanic Juan de Fuca tectonic plate under the North American tectonic plate; it is the core remnant of intrusive rock from kilate Pleistocene volcano. The butte has a calc-alkaline composition and consists of basaltic andesite with olivine phenocrysts. Historically, the butte was the home of the Rocky Butte Jail, Judson Baptist College, and Hill Military Academy, as well as an extensive Works Progress Administration construction project, Portland Bible College and a campus for the City Bible Church; at the summit of Rocky Butte there is a still functioning but decommissioned rotating airway beacon. The slopes of the butte currently support Joseph Wood Hill Park and the Rocky Butte Natural Area, which includes a wide variety of flora and fauna and supports rich forest stands. Located adjacent to Interstate 205, the butte is a popular destination for hiking, climbing, and viewing mountains from its summit viewpoint.
From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Wikidata Q7355746, referenced by the OpenStreetMap record.
What the record says
- Elevation
- 174 m
How to reach it
- 7.2 mi off the Mount Hood, National
- 7.6 mi off the JCT SR 5 VIC VANCOUVER ALONG WESTSIDE VANCOUVER LAKE TO NW LOWER RIVER RD
- 9.2 mi off the Historic Columbia River, National
- 9.4 mi off the JCT SR 500 VIC VANCOUVER TO JCT SR 5 VIC WOODLAND
Overlooks nearby
- Portland Women's Forum State Scenic Viewpoint · 15 mi
- Crown point · 16 mi
- Jonsrud Viewpoint · 17 mi
- Windblown Fir Viewpoint · 18 mi
Named places within 25 miles
- Joseph Wood Hill Park: 0.0 mi
- Maywood Commons: 0.4 mi
- Gateway Green: 0.5 mi
- Glenhaven Park: 0.7 mi
- Hancock Park: 0.8 mi
- Peace Pole: 0.5 mi
- T-Rex Memorial: 2.3 mi
- Vernon Ross Veterans Memorial: 2.4 mi
- Shotwell Memorial: 2.7 mi
- Eutectic Gallery: 3.4 mi
- Peace Garden: 0.5 mi
- Senns Community Garden: 1.1 mi
- Vestal Community Garden: 1.7 mi
- Luuwit View Community Garden: 1.9 mi
- Sumner Street Community Garden: 2.6 mi
- St. Francis: 0.5 mi
- Saint Peregrine, O.S.M.: 0.5 mi
- Jesus Carries the Cross: 0.5 mi
- Station 13: 0.6 mi
- Station 12: 0.6 mi
- Johnson Lake Natural Area: 1.4 mi
- Copper Mountain Property: 2.0 mi
- Cross Levee Natural Area: 2.6 mi
- Wilkes Creek Headwaters Natural Area: 2.9 mi
- Catkin Marsh Natural Area: 3.9 mi
- Mount Tabor: 2.7 mi
- Kelly Butte: 3.3 mi
- Powell Butte: 5.1 mi
- Grant Butte: 5.8 mi
- Clatsop Butte: 5.9 mi
- Water Wheel: 3.8 mi
- Bill Naito Legacy Fountain: 5.3 mi
- Portland Walking Tours: 5.4 mi
- Portland Spirit: 5.5 mi
- Williamette Jetboat Excursions: 5.6 mi
- Knapp Falls: 5.3 mi
- Jane Martin Waterfall: 5.7 mi
- Pothole Falls: 8.7 mi
- Lower Falls: 9.0 mi
- Woodburn Falls: 9.1 mi
- Zymoglyphic Museum: 2.6 mi
- Hellenic-American Cultural Center & Museum: 3.5 mi
- Architectural Heritage Center: 5.0 mi
- Portland Fire & Rescue Historic Museum: 5.3 mi
- Portland Museum of Modern Art: 5.3 mi
- Picnic Area B: 2.5 mi
- Picnic Area A: 2.6 mi
- Picnic Area D: 3.3 mi
- Picnic Area E: 3.3 mi
- Picnic Area F: 3.4 mi
- Lieser Point: 4.2 mi
- Swim beach: 5.5 mi
- North Beach: 5.7 mi
- Poet's Beach: 5.8 mi
- Lindbergh’s Beach: 6.5 mi
- Schwingus - Rocky Butte Quarry: 0.2 mi
- Rocky Butte Quarry: 0.2 mi
- Rocky Butte Quarry: 0.4 mi
- Tegart Bluff: 4.9 mi
- Waud Bluff: 8.0 mi
- School District Spring: 9.4 mi
- spring w/concrete cover: 20.2 mi
- Wahkeena Spring: 21.4 mi
- Oliver Spring: 23.7 mi
- Giesy Spring: 24.5 mi
- Gee Creek Northbound Rest Area: 16.7 mi
- Gee Creek Southbound Rest Area: 18.3 mi
- French Prairie Rest Area - Southbound: 21.4 mi
- French Prairie Rest Area - Northbound: 21.6 mi
- Fulton: 7.3 mi
- Latourell: 16.9 mi
- Bridal Veil: 19.0 mi
- Ed's Trail Arch: 21.3 mi
Other summits around it
The highest named summits within 20.1 miles of Rocky Butte. Elevation from each summit’s own record; bearing measured between the two coordinates.
| Summit | Bearing | Elevation | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pyramid Rock | NE 49° | 1,091 m | 19.9 mi |
| Larch Mountain | NE 48° | 1,057 m | 17.6 mi |
| Elkhorn Mountain | NE 35° | 679 m | 16.3 mi |
| Pepper Mountain | E 94° | 655 m | 19.0 mi |
| Bobs Mountain | ENE 68° | 643 m | 19.8 mi |
| Livingston Mountain | NE 46° | 595 m | 13.3 mi |
| Spotted Deer Mountain | NNE 30° | 594 m | 17.9 mi |
| Spud Mountain | NE 45° | 576 m | 14.3 mi |
When to go
Light through the year
| Date | Sunrise | Golden hour | Sunset |
|---|---|---|---|
| March equinox | 07:14 | 18:44 | 19:23 |
| June solstice | 05:22 | 20:18 | 21:04 |
| September equinox | 06:58 | 18:30 | 19:10 |
| December solstice | 07:48 | 15:40 | 16:30 |
Local time (America/Los_Angeles).
Climate normals
Months averaging 50–80 °F: Apr–Oct.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Avg °F | 41 | 44 | 48 | 53 | 59 | 63 | 69 | 70 | 64 | 55 | 47 | 41 |
| Precip in | 6.0 | 4.5 | 4.6 | 3.6 | 2.8 | 2.0 | 0.7 | 0.6 | 1.7 | 4.0 | 6.3 | 7.0 |
1991–2020 U.S. Climate Normals, NOAA NCEI — Portland WFO, 2 mi away.
Where this comes from
Location and category confirmed against OpenStreetMap.
OpenStreetMapWikipediaWikidataOpenStreetMap element node/357287136
Day trips start here
- Portland (Oregon)/Eastside · 3 mi
- Portland · 4 mi
- Portland Metropolitan Area · 5 mi
- Portland (Oregon)/Northwest · 6 mi
- Portland (Oregon)/Southwest · 6 mi
- Vancouver · 6 mi
Take the scenic way to Rocky Butte.
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