Loading map...

1985 Map of Merrimac Butte

Name: 1985 Topographic Map of Merrimac Butte
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1986
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1986

About this map

Merrimac Butte and the adjacent Monitor Butte stand as prominent landmarks in this high-desert region of Grand County during the mid-1980s. The landscape is defined by its dramatic geological features, including the western edge of Arches National Park and the deep incisions of Sevenmile Canyon and Moab Canyon. Human activity in this arid environment is recorded through a network of extraction sites, with a Mine, multiple Mine Shafts, and a Gravel Pit scattered across the terrain near Corral Canyon.

Resource exploration is further evidenced by the namesake Uranium Arch, while natural features like Slickensides Arch and Courthouse Rock dominate the central topography. The survey captures the area just as modern land use patterns were being formalized, showing the relationship between the open grazing lands of Courthouse Pasture and the protected park boundaries. Water sources, vital for both early miners and cattlemen, are marked at Courthouse Spring and Willow Spring.