| Rocky Butte | |
|---|---|
 Rocky Butte looking northwest from Interstate 205 in 2003 | |
| Highest point | |
| Elevation | 613 ft (187 m) NAVD 88[1] |
| Coordinates | 45°32′48″N 122°33′57″W / 45.546713961°N 122.565940936°W[1] |
| Geography | |
 | |
| Location | Multnomah County, Oregon, U.S. |
| Parent range | Boring Lava Field |
| Topo map | USGS Mount Tabor |
Rocky Butte Scenic Drive Historic District | |
   | |
| Location | Rocky Butte Rd. and parts of NE Fremont St. and 92nd Ave., Portland, Oregon, U.S. |
| Area | 21.5 acres (8.7 ha) |
| Built | 1933[3] |
| Built by | Multnomah Co. Road Dept. |
| NRHP reference No. | 91001550[2] |
| Added to NRHP | October 17, 1991[3] |
Rocky Butte (previously known as Mowich Illahee[4] 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.
- ^ a b "Rocky Butte Reset". NGS Data Sheet. National Geodetic Survey, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, United States Department of Commerce. October 12, 2018. Retrieved October 12, 2018.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
npgallerywas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ a b Oregon National Register List, p. 39.
- ^ "Parkrose Life Podcast #7 Indigenous History of Parkrose & Portland, Oregon with Tracy J. Prince, Ph.D." Parkrose Life. 2021-01-08. Retrieved 2022-01-18.