Cottontail Tower is a pillar in Grand County, Utah, United States.
Description Cottontail Tower is located northeast of Moab, Utah, in the Fisher Towers, on land administered by the Bureau of Land Management. Cottontail ranks as the second-steepest peak in the United States, second only to nearby The Titan.Contiguous US Steepness List, listsofjohn.com, Retrieved 2024-09-11. Topographic relief is significant as the summit rises above the tower's base.Stewart M. Green, Best Easy Day Hikes Moab, Rowman & Littlefield, 2020, , p. 48. Precipitation runoff from the tower drains to Onion Creek which empties into the Colorado River, approximately three miles to the west. Access is via Fisher Towers Road from Route 128, and hiking one mile on the Fisher Towers Trail. This landform's descriptive toponym refers to the summit rock resembling the tail of a Cottontail rabbit.Stewart M. Green, Rock Climbing Utah, Rowman & Littlefield, 2012, , p. 164. Cottontail Tower is briefly shown (as a parachute flies by) in the opening scene of the film Austin Powers in Goldmember.Fisher Towers - Hittle Bottom Campground, sceen-it.com, Retrieved 2024-09-11.
Climbing The first ascent of the summit was made June 11, 1967, by Harvey T. Carter, Art Howells, Mike Dudley, Don Doucette, Morgan Gadd, and Herbie Hendricks via the West Side Story route on the northwest side of the tower.First Ascent Timeline, deserttowersbook.com, Retrieved 2024-09-13.
Other rock-climbing routes on Cottontail Tower:
Brer Rabbit - - Ed Webster (1978)Cameron Burns, Selected Climbs in the Desert Southwest: Colorado and Utah, The Mountaineers Books, 1999, , p. 72. Road Kill - class 5.9 - Earl Wiggins, Art Wiggins, Katy Cassidy (1987)North America, United States, Utah, Utah Desert Climbing, Eric Bjørnstad, 1988, americanalpineclub.org. Intifada - class 5.10 - Jim Beyer (1988)The American Alpine Journal 1991, James Beyer, The Mountaineers Books, 1991, p. 172. Not So Soft - class 5.8 - Shawn MacRoe, Chris Van Leuven (1999)Fisher Towers, Eric Bjørnstad, American Alpine Journal, 1999, p. 230. Trick of the Tail - class 5.10+ - Paul Gagner, Jeremy Aslaksen (2011)North America, United States, Utah, Fisher Towers, Cottontail Tower, Trick of the Tail, Paul Gagner, 2012, americanalpineclub.org. Free Gaza - Jim Beyer (2014)Free Gaza Cottontail Tower, Mountain Project, Retrieved 2024-09-11. Line in the Sand - Richard Jensen, Scott Peterson (2017)Cottontail Tower, Line in the Sand, Utah, Fisher Towers, Scott Peterson, 2018, americanalpineclub.org.
Geology Cottontail Tower is set on a fin and is composed of two principal strata of sandstone and mudstone: Permian Cutler Formation capped by Early Triassic Moenkopi Formation. There is an unconformity between the Cutler and the Moenkopi layers.Castle Valley Overview United States of America, Virtual 3D Geoscience, v3geo.com, Retrieved 2024-09-05. The reddish coloration of the rock is a result of varying amounts of hematite.GeoSights: Fisher Towers – The towering red rock sculptures of Grand County, Utah, Carl Ege, Utah Geological Survey, Retrieved 2024-09-12.
Climate Spring and fall are the most favorable seasons to visit Cottontail Tower. According to the Köppen climate classification system, it is located in a cold semi-arid climate zone with cold winters and hot summers. Summers highs rarely exceed . Summer nights are comfortably cool, and temperatures drop quickly after sunset. Winters are cold, but daytime highs are usually above freezing. Winter temperatures below are uncommon, though possible. This desert climate receives less than of annual rainfall, and snowfall is generally light during the winter.
See also Fisher Towers The Titan
Gallery
References
External links Weather forecast: Fisher Towers Cottontail Tower Climbing: Mountainproject.com