Crown Butte


Crown Butte is a summit in Park County, Montana, United States.

Description

Crown Butte is located north-northwest of Cooke City, Montana, in the Beartooth Mountains which are a subrange of the Rocky Mountains. It is set within the New [World Mining District] and the Custer-Gallatin National Forest. Precipitation runoff from the mountain's west slope drains into headwaters of the Stillwater River, whereas the east slope drains into Miller CreekSoda Butte CreekLamar River. Topographic relief is modest as the summit rises above Miller Creek in. The mountain's toponym has been officially adopted by the United States Board on Geographic Names. The area around Crown Butte from Cooke City to Scotch Bonnet Mountain offers some of the finest backcountry snowmobiling in the country. On January 17, 2009, a snowmobiler riding on Crown Butte triggered an avalanche resulting in one fatality. On December 31, 2022, one snowmobiler was killed in a very large avalanche on Crown Butte.

Climate

Based on the Köppen climate classification, Crown Butte is located in a subarctic climate zone characterized by long, usually very cold winters, and mild summers.Winter temperatures can drop below 0 °F with wind chill factors below −10 °F.