The Field Atlas
0/363Volcanic chapter · 44.59° N · 104.72° W
Fig. 1The tower in autumn cottonwood light
A phonolite porphyry butte — an igneous intrusion, not a volcano — with columnar jointing rising 867 feet above the Belle Fourche River.
The columns are hexagonal, like a giant organ. Lakota and other Plains nations hold the tower as sacred. Prairie dogs keep the foreground busy; climbers keep to the cracks.
A private leaf
Instant paper, this copy only. Write on the white — a line the walk still owes you.
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Opening the leaf…
Onward
The nearest plates, by the miles.
The Needles, Black Hills78 miles · South DakotaLXV
Medicine Rocks101 miles · MontanaCCCIII
Cloud Peak122 miles · WyomingCLVIII
Meadowlark Lake127 miles · WyomingCLXXI
Badlands128 miles · South DakotaXLVII
Steamboat Point131 miles · WyomingCLXXIII
Tensleep Canyon133 miles · WyomingCLXXII
Buffalo Gap National Grassland135 miles · South DakotaCCLIXVolcanic chapter
Other US volcanic plates. See all volcanic destinations in the USA
Fold-out
