A butte (pronounced “BYOOT”) is a tall, flat-topped hill or small mountain with steep sides that stands alone in otherwise flat or gently rolling land. Buttes look like nature built enormous tables out of rock, rising suddenly from the ground around them.

You'll find buttes throughout the American West, especially in places like Arizona, Utah, and Montana. They form over millions of years when wind and water wear away softer rock, leaving behind harder rock that becomes the butte's flat top and protective cap. The steep sides show layers of different rock types, striped in reds, oranges, and browns.

Monument Valley, on the border of Arizona and Utah, contains some of America's most famous buttes, their distinctive shapes appearing in countless Western movies and photographs. These dramatic rock formations can tower hundreds of feet above the desert floor.

Geologists distinguish buttes from mesas (their larger cousins) by size: if the flat top is wider than it is tall, it's a mesa. If it's taller than it is wide, it's a butte. Both are landmarks that helped travelers navigate across the vast Western landscape before modern roads and maps existed.