Airport Tower is a tall sandstone

butte In geomorphology, a butte ( ) is an isolated hill with steep, often vertical sides and a small, relatively flat top; buttes are smaller landforms than mesas, plateaus, and table (landform), tablelands. The word ''butte'' comes from the French l ...

located in the Island in the Sky District of

Canyonlands National Park Canyonlands National Park is a national park of the United States located in southeastern Utah near the town of Moab. The park preserves a colorful landscape eroded into numerous canyons, mesas, and buttes by the Colorado River, the Green Rive ...

, in

San Juan County, Utah San Juan County ( ) is a County (United States), county in the southeastern portion of the U.S. state of Utah. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 14,518. Its county seat is Monticello, Utah, Monticello, while its most popu ...

. It is situated 1.64 mile east of Washer Woman, which is a towering arch similar in height. Each are composed of

Wingate Sandstone The Wingate Sandstone is a geologic formation in the Glen Canyon Group of the Colorado Plateau province of the United States which crops out in northern Arizona, northwest Colorado, Nevada, and Utah. Geology Wingate Sandstone is particularly ...

, which is the remains of wind-borne sand dunes deposited approximately 200 million years ago in the

Late Triassic The Late Triassic is the third and final epoch (geology), epoch of the Triassic geologic time scale, Period in the geologic time scale, spanning the time between annum, Ma and Ma (million years ago). It is preceded by the Middle Triassic Epoch a ...

. The nearest higher neighbor is Monster Tower, to the west, Tiki Tower is one-half mile northwest, and Mesa Arch is situated to the west. A short hike to Mesa Arch provides the easiest view of Airport Tower. Access to this tower is via the four-wheel drive

White Rim Road The White Rim Road is a unpaved four-wheel drive road that traverses the top of the White Rim Sandstone formation below the Island in the Sky mesa of Canyonlands National Park in southern Utah in the United States. The road was constructed in ...

, which is another option to see Airport Tower. The top of this geological formation rises 1,400 feet above the road in less than one mile. Precipitation runoff from Airport Tower drains southeast into the nearby

Colorado River The Colorado River () is one of the principal rivers (along with the Rio Grande) in the Southwestern United States and in northern Mexico. The river, the List of longest rivers of the United States (by main stem), 5th longest in the United St ...

via Buck and Lathrop Canyons. This geographical feature's name was officially adopted in 1986 by the U.S. Board on Geographic Names. It was so named because the rock formation resembles the appearance of an

airport control tower Air traffic control (ATC) is a service provided by ground-based air traffic controllers who direct aircraft on the ground and through a given section of controlled airspace, and can provide advisory services to aircraft in non-controlled air ...

Climbing

The

first ascent In mountaineering and climbing, a first ascent (abbreviated to FA in climbing guidebook, guide books), is the first successful documented climb to the top of a mountain or the top of a particular climbing route. Early 20th-century mountaineers a ...

of Airport Tower was made in July 1994 by Galen Howell, Sonja Paspal, and Steve Swanke, via ''Wind Shear'' (5.11, A1, 5 pitches). The second ascent was made in September 1995 by Mike Baker and Leslie Henderson via ''Sky Pilot'' (IV 5.9 A3). The first

free ascent An emergency ascent is an ascent to the surface by a diver in an emergency. More specifically, it refers to any of several procedures for reaching the surface in the event of an out-of-gas emergency, generally while scuba diving. Emergency asc ...

of Airport Tower was made in 1998 by Bret Ruckman and Marco Corncchione via ''Wind Shear'' (), calling it a five-star route.North Amwerica, United States, Utah, Canyonlands National Park, Tristin's Tower, Airport Tower, Ascents americanalpineclub.org
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Climate

Spring and fall are the most favorable seasons to visit Airport Tower. According to the

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...

system, it is located in a

Cold semi-arid climate Cold is the presence of low temperature, especially in the atmosphere. In common usage, cold is often a subjective perception. A lower bound to temperature is absolute zero, defined as 0.00K on the Kelvin scale, an absolute thermodynamic ...

zone, which is defined by the coldest month having an average mean temperature below −0 °C (32 °F) and at least 50% of the total annual precipitation being received during the spring and summer. This desert climate receives less than of annual rainfall, and snowfall is generally light during the winter.

Gallery

File:Canyonlands Airport Tower.jpg, Washer Woman and Airport Tower seen from the west at Mesa Arch File:Airport Tower (Canyonlands).jpg, Northeast aspect File:White Rim Trail, Canyonlands UT.jpg, East aspect from White Rim Road Airport Tower, Canyonlands National Park.jpg, From the southwest File:Airport Tower - Canyonlands National Park, Utah.jpg, From the southwest File:Monster Tower Canyonlands.jpg, Washer Woman, Monster Tower, and Airport Tower seen from west.
United Nations Tablet on skyline File:Airport Tower and Island in the Sky (7257519158).jpg, Airport Tower (right) and Island in the Sky File:Airport Tower, from east.jpg, Airport Tower from the east (Monster Tower behind left) File:Campsites are marked with wooden posts. (d02069b4-f02b-4d41-9852-474b3a685352).jpg, From Airport Tower Campground File:Airport Tower star trails.jpg, Southeast aspect and star trails File:Airport Tower - panoramio.jpg File:Airport Tower, Tiki Tower, Canyonlands National Park.jpg, North aspect. ( Tiki Tower to right)

References

{{reflist

External links

Canyonlands National Park
National Park Service * Airport Tower weather forecast
National Weather Service
* Airport Tower from White Rim Road
YouTube
Landforms of San Juan County, Utah Colorado Plateau Canyonlands National Park Sandstone formations of the United States Buttes of Utah Rock formations of Utah

Climbing

Climate

Gallery

See also

References

External links