Horse Butte by Livingston Douglas

Elevation: 4,745 ft
Prominence: 260

Find Nearby Peaks

This butte is not in the book. Private land impacts access to this butte. You should secure permission before climbing this peak. Published November 2024


Horse Butte is a rather insignificant hump along I-84. The west side of Horse Butte is almost entirely BLM land. To reach it, you must cross a short patch of private land near the base of the south face. I encountered no signage to prohibit entry. The summit is on unposted private land. USGS Lake Walcott SW

Horse Butte (left of center) as viewed from I-84 to its south. Livingston Douglas Photo

Access

From Exit 228/North Yale Road on I-84, drive southwest for 0.2 miles to a “T” junction with ID-81. Drive south on ID-81 for 2.1 miles to a signed junction with 300S. Go left/east on 300S for 0.5 miles to a side road that goes left/north into a small sub-development of modular homes. Drive north up this side road for about 100 yards and park near a closed, gated 2-track road and a cattle fence. Park here (4,460 feet and 42⁰29’20”N, 113⁰23’30”W).

South Face, Class 2

The Climb

From the gated road closure, cross to the north side of the cattle fence and follow an old 2-track road northward up the left/west side of a fence row that separates irrigated farmland (to the right/east) from scrub (to the left/west). The 2-track soon ends just before reaching a fence corner. Bushwhack north then northwest (using cattle trails in the sagebrush) to reach the south end of the tilted summit plateau. Continue north-northeast to the high point and the USGS “Brush” benchmark. Much of this bushwhack is in easy field grass rather than sagebrush.

The summit of Horse Butte. Livingston Douglas Photo

The USGS benchmark (“Brush”) atop Horse Butte. Livingston Douglas Photo

 

Additional Resources

Mountain Range: Snake River Plain

Longitude: -113.3938   Latitude: 42.5038

Comments are closed.