Setting Hen is a

summit A summit is a point on a surface that is higher in elevation than all points immediately adjacent to it. The topographic terms acme, apex, peak (mountain peak), and zenith are synonymous. The term (mountain top) is generally used only for ...

in San Juan County,

Utah Utah is a landlocked state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is one of the Four Corners states, sharing a border with Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico. It also borders Wyoming to the northea ...

, United States. Setting Hen should not be confused with another butte named Setting Hen Butte within the same county but further northeast at

Valley of the Gods The Valley of the Gods is a scenic sandstone valley near Mexican Hat, Utah, Mexican Hat in San Juan County, Utah, San Juan County, southeastern Utah, United States. Part of Bears Ears National Monument, the Valley of the Gods is located north of ...

Description

Setting Hen is situated northeast of

Oljato–Monument Valley, Utah Oljato-Monument Valley () is a census-designated place (CDP) in San Juan County, Utah, United States. The population was 864 at the 2000 census. It is the location of Monument Valley. Geography According to the United States Census Bureau, t ...

, on

Navajo Nation The Navajo Nation (), also known as Navajoland, is an Indian reservation of Navajo people in the United States. It occupies portions of northeastern Arizona, northwestern New Mexico, and southeastern Utah. The seat of government is located in ...

land. It is an iconic landform of

Monument Valley Monument Valley (, , meaning "valley of the rocks") is a region of the Colorado Plateau characterized by a cluster of sandstone buttes, with the largest reaching above the valley floor. The most famous butte formations are located in northeas ...

and can be seen from Highway 163. Precipitation runoff from this butte's slopes drains into the San Juan River

drainage basin A drainage basin is an area of land in which all flowing surface water converges to a single point, such as a river mouth, or flows into another body of water, such as a lake or ocean. A basin is separated from adjacent basins by a perimeter, ...

Topographic relief Terrain (), alternatively relief or topographical relief, is the dimension and shape of a given surface of land. In physical geography, terrain is the lay of the land. This is usually expressed in terms of the elevation, slope, and orientati ...

is significant as the summit rises above surrounding terrain in 0.25 mile (0.4 km). The nearest higher neighbor is

Eagle Mesa Eagle Mesa is a summit in San Juan County, Utah, United States. Description Eagle Mesa is situated northeast of Oljato–Monument Valley, Utah, on Navajo Nation land. It is, together with Setting Hen, an iconic landform of Monument Valley an ...

, to the southwest. This landform's toponym has been officially adopted by the

United States Board on Geographic Names The United States Board on Geographic Names (BGN) is a Federal government of the United States, federal body operating under the United States Secretary of the Interior. The purpose of the board is to establish and maintain uniform usage of geogr ...

, and the descriptive name refers to the profile resembling a sitting hen when viewed from the southeast.

Geology

Setting Hen is a

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 ...

composed of two principal strata. The bottom layer is

Organ Rock Shale The Organ Rock Formation or Organ Rock Shale is a formation within the late Pennsylvanian to early Permian Cutler Group and is deposited across southeastern Utah, northwestern New Mexico, and northeastern Arizona. This formation notably outcrops ar ...

and the upper stratum is cliff-forming

De Chelly Sandstone The Yeso Group is a group of geologic formations in New Mexico. It contains fossils characteristic of the Kungurian Age of the early Permian Period. Description The Yeso Group is lithologically complex, ranging from marine shelf carbonate ...

. The rock was deposited during the

Permian The Permian ( ) is a geologic period and System (stratigraphy), stratigraphic system which spans 47 million years, from the end of the Carboniferous Period million years ago (Mya), to the beginning of the Triassic Period 251.902 Mya. It is the s ...

period. The buttes and mesas of Monument Valley are the result of the Organ Rock Shale being more easily eroded than the overlaying sandstone.

Climate

Spring and fall are the most favorable seasons to visit Setting Hen. 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

semi-arid climate A semi-arid climate, semi-desert climate, or steppe climate is a dry climate sub-type. It is located on regions that receive precipitation below potential evapotranspiration, but not as low as a desert climate. There are different kinds of se ...

zone with cold winters and hot summers. Summers average 54 days above annually, and 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.Climate Summary for Kayenta, Arizona
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Gallery

File:Monument Valley in Arizona - 2008-04-08 B.jpg, Southwest aspect, from Highway 163, Eagle Mesa and Setting Hen File:Monument Valley, Setting Hen.jpg, South aspect, with a dusting of autumn snow File:Eagle Mesa, Setting Hen.jpg, Eagle Mesa (left) and Setting Hen viewed from the south. File:Monument Valley, Utah, US - panoramio (16).jpg, Eagle Mesa (left), Setting Hen (right) File:Over Monument Valley, Navajo Nation - 3815045340.jpg, Aerial view of Setting Hen (right) with Eagle Mesa (center left) File:Monument Valley, AZ (48566078946).jpg, Eagle Mesa (left), Setting Hen (right) File:Monument Valley 0.jpg, Setting Hen centered File:Monument Valley Setting Hen.jpg File:Over Monument Valley, Navajo Nation - 3814235817.jpg, Aerial view

References

External links