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2010 Map of Wedding Cake Butte

Name: 2010 Topographic Map of Wedding Cake Butte
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 2010
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 2010

About this map

Wedding Cake Butte and the distinctive Shiprock formation rise above the valley of the Dry Cimarron River, characterizing this high-desert landscape on the Colorado and New Mexico border. The 2010 survey illustrates a region defined by its water management and dramatic topography, where the Berry Ditch and South Beheimer Ditch redirect the limited flow of the river to support local land use. This area is sparsely settled, with the small location of Heyen serving as a primary point of reference amidst a network of county highways.

The topography is marked by deep incisions and broad elevations, including Black Mesa in the northeast and Piñon Ridge to the south. Numerous drainages such as Sloan Creek, Smiley Arroyo, and Bontz Canyon feed toward the Cimarron, revealing the complex erosion patterns that have shaped the buttes and canyons over time. The map provides a detailed view of the infrastructure that connects these remote points, from County Hwy B-067 to County Rd B068.