Nature
Middle Butte is a 6,391-foot summit on Idaho’s Eastern Snake River Plain, named for its position between Big Southern Butte and East Butte. Along with those landmarks, it served as an important guide for early explorers and pioneers crossing the plain, and Lewis and Clark noted its unusual shape during their 1805 expedition. Though modest in elevation by mountain standards, it rises more than 1,000 feet above the surrounding plain in just half a mile, giving it a striking profile. Geologically, it is a basalt cryptodome, formed when rhyolitic magma pushed up basalt layers without breaking through the surface.
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Idaho · United States
