1980 Map of Table Butte

About this map

Table Butte stands as a prominent landmark in this high-elevation corner of Owyhee County, surveyed by the Geological Survey during the mid-1970s. The landscape is defined by the broad, high reaches of Big Hill and the arid expanse of the Blackstone Desert to the southeast. Water is scarce in this portion of the Idaho high country, with drainage primarily channeled through the winding course of Sugar Creek. In the southern portion of the quadrangle, Fivemile Lake provides a rare catchment in an otherwise dry environment. The mapping reveals a land largely without permanent settlement, instead crisscrossed by a network of rudimentary transportation routes labeled simply as Trail or Jeep Trail, indicating the area's primary use for ranching or remote access during this era.