Black Butte Dam at Gold Butte National Monument

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This page last updated on 03/18/2018

(Fig. 01)

(Fig. 02)

04/25/2017 Trip Notes:  Today I visited this dam again with Harvey Smith, Bob Croke and Jim Herring. In addition to nice view from the top of the dam, we got to observe something vary unusual. As you can see from the picture in (Fig. 06), there is a very large meadow like area behind the dam. In the driest portion of the meadow directly behind the dam we observed more than a half dozen small frogs or toads emerging directly out of the ground. (Fig. 03) (Fig. 04) Click to Enlarge (Fig. 05) Click to Enlarge 02/05/2014 Trip Notes: Though you can hike to Black Butte Dam (Fig. 01),  from the Falling Man Site, the easier and shorter way is to continue traveling about 1.75 miles south on Black Butte Road to 21 Goats Road. Refer to the map in (Fig. 02). Turn left onto 21 Goats Road (more of a wash) and travel the short distance to its end. From here hike a couple of hundred feet and turn right out of the wash. It is only a short hike to the dam. When you see this, you immediately wonder who the hell decided to build a dam way out here in the middle of nowhere. The answer is that the dam was built by cattlemen years ago to create a water reservoir for their cattle. Once you hike around the dam to the plateau behind it this becomes quite evident. The view in (Fig. 03) was taken standing on top of the dam looking east. Over the years the reservoir had begun to fill up with sediment, but it still holds back a fair bit of water during a heavy rain. (Fig. 04) is from the top edge of the dam looking down at its face. Footprints in the area indicate that this still may be a popular watering spot after a good rain.

(Fig. 06)

(Fig. 07)                     Back to [Gold Butte National Monument - Summary Page]