| Address | Near North Rim, AZ 86052 |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 36.2378, -111.9193 |
| Category | Hiking, Scenic |
| Nearest city | Regional hub - biggest city in its area |
| Region | Arizona, USA |
| Sources | geonames |
Colter Butte Travel Guide
Colter Butte is a mountain in Arizona. This guide covers how to visit it, what to expect and how to build a day around it.
Colter Butte at a Glance
- What it is: mountain (travel destination)
- Where it is: Near North Rim, AZ 86052 — coordinates 36.2378, 111.9193
- Why it is listed: a source-verified entry in the CollabsTravel master database, matched against official gazetteer and geographic records before publication
- Time needed: a couple of hours
- Best season: May to September
Quick Facts
| Place type | Mountain |
| Also good for | Hiking, Scenic |
| Region / state | Arizona |
| Postal address | Near North Rim, AZ 86052 |
| Coordinates | 36.2378, -111.9193 |
Why Colter Butte Is Worth Visiting
Colter Butte earns its place in this guide for a simple reason: it is a verified destination in Arizona,. With 8 other verified places within 150 km, it anchors a cluster instead of standing alone. Visitors book it for hiking, scenic as much as for destination. And unlike listicle recommendations, everything on this page - coordinates, category, sources - was checked against official records before publication.
About Colter Butte
In plain terms, Colter Butte is a mountain in the Arizona area of Arizona that travellers book around destination trips. Beyond its main draw, the record tags it for hiking, scenic too, so it rewards more than one kind of visit. Postal addressing runs through North Rim (86052). Everything stated on this page comes from that verified record; where background history is quoted, the source is named at the end of the section.
The Story of Colter Butte: History & Background
Colter Butte is a 7,254-foot-elevation (2,211-meter) summit located in the Grand Canyon in Coconino County of northern Arizona, US. It is situated four miles southeast of Point Imperial, where it towers 3,600 feet (1,100 meters) above Nankoweap Canyon. Its neighbors include Brady Peak, 2.5 miles to the west-northwest, Alsap Butte two miles to the northwest, and Swilling Butte one-half mile to the east. Colter Butte is named after James G. H. Colter (1844–1922), born in Nova Scotia, Canada, he came to the Arizona Territory in 1872 as a pioneer, farmer, cattleman, Apache and desperado fighter. He was the father of Arizona state senator Fred Colter. This geographical feature's name was officially adopted in 1932 by the United States Board on Geographic Names. According to the Köppen climate classification system, Colter Butte is located in a cold semi-arid climate zone. This butte is composed of Pennsylvanian-Permian Supai Group which overlays cliff-forming Mississippian Redwall Limestone, which in turn overlays slope-forming Cambrian Tonto Group. Precipitation runoff from this feature drains east to the Colorado River via Nankoweap Creek on the north side and Kwagunt Creek from the south slope.
Lead passage from the Wikipedia article "Colter Butte", reused under CC BY-SA 4.0 with a coordinate-verified name match; the source article carries the full referenced history.
The Beauty of Colter Butte
What people mean when they call Colter Butte beautiful is usually the setting itself - the land, water and sky that put the place on maps. The light does most of the work: mid-latitude light gives the place two looks: clean blue summer noon and a low amber angle in spring and autumn. The seasons restyle everything around it - each season repaints it - plan the visit around the colour you want in your photos. And the beauty compounds with context: with 8 other verified places nearby, the Arizona area reads as one continuous landscape rather than a single viewpoint, which is worth more than any filter on the photos you take here.
Getting There
Colter Butte sits at 36.2378, 111.9193 in Arizona. Most visitors reach it by car, regional rail or local transit; pin the coordinates above rather than only the name - Colter Butte names repeat across regions, and rural entries often lack street addresses.
The nearest postal locality is North Rim (86052), which is what local directions and navigation apps will reference.
Best Time to Visit
the desert Southwest runs hot from June to September, so spring (March–May) and fall (September–November) are the most comfortable months for hiking and outdoor plans.
Colter Butte Season by Season
- Summer (Jun-Aug) - peak season: the warmest, longest days and everything open, which also makes it the priciest and busiest window
- Autumn (Sep-Nov) - shoulder season: crowds drain away, the light turns photographic, and lodging rates typically fall
- Winter (Dec-Feb) - off-season: cheapest beds and empty viewpoints, but check for closures, snow or rain before committing
- Spring (Mar-May) - rebuild season: wildflowers, newborn wildlife and reopened facilities - the best balance if the weather holds
Things to Do
Planning what to actually do at Colter Butte comes down to the setting it sits in:
- Arrive with the exact coordinates (36.2378, -111.9193) pinned in your maps app — rural place names repeat across states
- Give the site one unhurried hour before adding anything else to the day
- Pair it with the nearest named attraction on this page to make a full loop
- Chain the stop with what is nearby — see the list below before fixing your day route
None of this needs a rigid schedule - the honest pattern at Colter Butte is one anchor at the nearest anchor town, one longer stop, and the rest of the time left for whatever looks better from the car window. That flexibility is what separates a good half-day from a rushed one.
A Perfect Day in Colter Butte
Morning (start early). Have breakfast at Colter Butte and roll out before mid-morning - the light is softer, parking is open, and Colter Butte is at its quietest before the day-trippers arrive. Give the main stop its full due first rather than saving it for later.
Midday. From Colter Butte, Hutton Butte is only 2 km away - pair the two rather than driving home for lunch; a picnic beats a reservation near most of these spots.
Afternoon. Keep going to Duppa Butte (2 km) if the group still has legs; it is the standard second half of this loop.
Golden hour. End at the main viewpoint, waterfront or main street as the light drops; this is the hour Colter Butte is genuinely famous for locally, and it costs nothing.
Evening. Sleep at Colter Butte unless the road out is long - leaving at dusk is the one mistake that can flatten an otherwise perfect day.
Know Before You Go to Colter Butte
- Save the pin (36.2378, -111.9193) offline - reception in Arizona is exactly as good as it needs to be and no better
- Check the official source listed at the bottom of this page for current hours, fees and closures before driving out
- Visit on weekdays: at most verified spots weekends triple the local traffic
- Bring the basics - water, layers, power bank - because facilities at this kind of place are self-service
Nearby Places Worth Combining
Colter Butte does not sit in isolation - these verified places are all within a short hop and combine into a full loop:
- Hutton Butte — place, about 2 km (1 mi) away
- Duppa Butte — place, about 2 km (1 mi) away
- Novinger Butte — place, about 3 km (2 mi) away
- Brady Peak — place, about 4 km (3 mi) away
- Nankoweap Butte — place, about 4 km (3 mi) away
- Cochise Butte — place, about 4 km (3 mi) away
- Gunther Castle — place, about 5 km (3 mi) away
- Kibbey Butte — place, about 5 km (3 mi) away
Planning More of Your Trip
See all destinations in Arizona on the Arizona state hub.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Colter Butte worth visiting?+
Yes, if you are in the area for more than a single day. Colter Butte is a verified mountain in Arizona that most drive-by lists miss, and the official-record provenance behind this page means the location, name and access facts are checked rather than guessed. Give it a couple of hours.
Where exactly is Colter Butte?+
Colter Butte sits at Near North Rim, AZ 86052, coordinates 36.2378, -111.9193. The postal locality is North Rim - use the coordinates rather than the name alone, because place names repeat across regions and a map pin beats a keyword search.
How far is Colter Butte from the nearest city?+
The nearest named base on this guide is close enough that distance is not the constraint; the Quick Facts table lists the exact road-town km, and every place here is reachable as a same-day loop from a regional hub.
What is the best time to visit Colter Butte?+
May to September. Book the shoulder months either side of that window for the same scenery at lower prices, and check seasonal closures before fixing dates.
How long do you need at Colter Butte?+
Plan on a couple of hours for a first visit - the highlights at a normal pace without rushing. Add another half day if you want to combine it with the nearby places listed above.
Is Colter Butte good for families with kids?+
It works with kids who have patience for the setting; judge it by your shortest-attention traveller and keep the visit to the first highlight.
Does Colter Butte cost anything to visit?+
Most public places like this have no entry fee, but parking, guided programs and seasonal shuttles are the usual small costs. Confirm current fees with the official source cited on this page - they change more often than guidebooks do.
What is near Colter Butte?+
The closest verified neighbour is Hutton Butte; the nearby list above has the full set with distances, and combining two or three of them is the standard way to fill a day around Colter Butte.
Is Colter Butte open to visitors, and do you need a permit?+
Public places listed here are visitable by default; the permit exceptions are usually specific activities (backcountry camping, drones, commercial photography) rather than the visit itself. Check the cited official source for anything activity-based.
Should you visit Colter Butte in bad weather?+
Rain reshapes rather than ruins the day - viewpoints become cloud-scapes and trails get muddy. Keep Colter Butte as a fair-weather item on your trip and swap in the covered alternatives from the regional list when the forecast turns.
What makes Colter Butte different from other places like it?+
Its exact combination: a mountain in Arizona with verified coordinates and, where listed, an official designation. The difference is usually the setting and the access pattern rather than the category label - the facts table on this page shows that specifically.
Can you visit Colter Butte as a day trip?+
Yes - at a couple of hours on site, a day loop is realistic: morning at Colter Butte, one nearby stop, and home by evening. The Perfect Day section above has the hour-by-hour version.
What is Colter Butte known for?+
In the wider record, mountain-class place: Colter Butte is a 7,254-foot-elevation (2,211-meter) summit located in the Grand Canyon in Coconino County of northern Arizona, US. This guide adds the practical layer - verified coordinates, access, seasonality and what to combine it with.
What is the most beautiful thing about Colter Butte?+
The honest short answer is in The Beauty of Colter Butte section above, but distilled: what people mean when they call colter butte beautiful is usually the setting itself - the land, water and sky that put the place on maps. Come for the light and the setting rather than a single checklist object.
Is Colter Butte crowded?+
Colter Butte sits below the headline-name tier in its region, so crowding is an event-and-weekend problem rather than a standing one. Weekday mornings in the shoulder season are the quietest version of the visit.
What is the history of Colter Butte?+
The sourced background above places documented events for Colter Butte around 1844 at the earliest point its article dates; for the full timeline with references, the linked Wikipedia article is the primary trail and this guide keeps the practical travel layer on top of it. ## Source Verification This guide's facts come from official public datasets: [Geonames record 5290481](https://www.geonames.org/5290481). Location data is reviewed in per-state batches before publication.
Nearby destinations
Hutton Butte
Mountain · Arizona
Duppa Butte
Mountain · Arizona
Novinger Butte
Mountain · Arizona
Brady Peak
Mountain · Arizona
Nankoweap Butte
Mountain · Arizona
Cochise Butte
Mountain · Arizona
Gunther Castle
Mountain · Arizona
Kibbey Butte
Mountain · Arizona