| Address | Near Mexican Hat, AZ 84531 |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 36.9806, -110.0860 |
| Category | Hiking, Scenic |
| Nearest city | Bluff |
| Region | Arizona, USA |
| Sources | geonames |
Merrick Butte Travel Guide
Merrick Butte is a mountain in Arizona. The nearest service base is Bluff, roughly 55 km away.
Merrick Butte at a Glance
- What it is: mountain (travel destination)
- Where it is: Near Mexican Hat, AZ 84531 — coordinates 36.9806, 110.0860
- 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 Mexican Hat, AZ 84531 |
| Nearest city | Bluff |
| Coordinates | 36.9806, -110.0860 |
| Nearest base town | Bluff (55 km) |
Why Merrick Butte Is Worth Visiting
Merrick Butte earns its place in this guide for a simple reason: it is a verified destination in Arizona,. Its position 55 km from Bluff also makes it an easy add-on rather than a detour that costs half a day. 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 Merrick Butte
In plain terms, Merrick 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. Functionally it belongs to Bluff - the town most maps and locals will reference when describing how to reach it. 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 Merrick Butte: History & Background
Merrick Butte is a butte located in Monument Valley and is part of the Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park, similar to its neighbors West and East Mitten Buttes just to the north. It was named after silver miner Jack Merrick, killed by Native Americans in 1880.
Lead passage from the Wikipedia article "Merrick 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 Merrick Butte
What people mean when they call Merrick 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
Merrick Butte sits at 36.9806, 110.0860 in Arizona. Most visitors reach it by car, regional rail or local transit; pin the coordinates above rather than only the name - Merrick Butte names repeat across regions, and rural entries often lack street addresses.
Base yourself in Bluff and make this a half-day trip; services, fuel and lodging are easiest there. The run from Bluff is about 55 km (34 mi) each way, so allow Bluff as your anchor for the day.
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.
Merrick 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 Merrick Butte comes down to the setting it sits in:
- Arrive with the exact coordinates (36.9806, -110.0860) 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 Merrick 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 Merrick Butte
Morning (start early). Have breakfast at Bluff and roll out before mid-morning - the light is softer, parking is open, and Merrick 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 Merrick Butte, East Mitten 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 Elephant 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 Merrick Butte is genuinely famous for locally, and it costs nothing.
Evening. Sleep at Bluff 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 Merrick Butte
- Save the pin (36.9806, -110.0860) 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
Merrick Butte does not sit in isolation - these verified places are all within a short hop and combine into a full loop:
- East Mitten Butte — place, about 2 km (1 mi) away
- Elephant Butte — place, about 2 km (1 mi) away
- Mitchell Mesa — place, about 2 km (1 mi) away
- Camel Butte — place, about 3 km (2 mi) away
- Cly Butte — place, about 3 km (2 mi) away
- Rain God Mesa — place, about 4 km (3 mi) away
- Gray Whiskers — place, about 5 km (3 mi) away
- Mitchell Butte — place, about 6 km (4 mi) away
Planning More of Your Trip
See all destinations in Arizona on the Arizona state hub.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Merrick Butte worth visiting?+
Yes, if you are in the area for more than a single day. Merrick 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 Merrick Butte?+
Merrick Butte sits at Near Mexican Hat, AZ 84531, coordinates 36.9806, -110.0860. The postal locality is Mexican Hat - 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 Merrick Butte from the nearest city?+
Merrick Butte is about 55 km (34 mi) from Bluff, which is an easy out-and-back day trip - most visitors base themselves in Bluff and make the run in well under an hour each way.
What is the best time to visit Merrick 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 Merrick 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 Merrick 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 Merrick 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 Merrick Butte?+
The closest verified neighbour is East Mitten 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 Merrick Butte.
Is Merrick 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 Merrick Butte in bad weather?+
Rain reshapes rather than ruins the day - viewpoints become cloud-scapes and trails get muddy. Keep Merrick 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 Merrick 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 Merrick Butte as a day trip?+
Yes - at a couple of hours on site, a day loop is realistic: morning at Merrick Butte, one nearby stop, and home by evening. The Perfect Day section above has the hour-by-hour version.
What is Merrick Butte known for?+
In the wider record, mountain-class place: Merrick Butte is a butte located in Monument Valley and is part of the Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park, similar to its neighbors West and East Mitten Buttes just to the north. This guide adds the practical layer - verified coordinates, access, seasonality and what to combine it with.
What is the most beautiful thing about Merrick Butte?+
The honest short answer is in The Beauty of Merrick Butte section above, but distilled: what people mean when they call merrick 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 Merrick Butte crowded?+
Merrick 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 Merrick Butte?+
The sourced background above places documented events for Merrick Butte around 1880 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 5304378](https://www.geonames.org/5304378). Location data is reviewed in per-state batches before publication.
Nearby destinations
East Mitten Butte
Mountain · Arizona
Elephant Butte
Mountain · Arizona
Mitchell Mesa
Mountain · Arizona
Camel Butte
Mountain · Arizona
Cly Butte
Mountain · Arizona
Sentinel Mesa
Mountain · Utah
Rain God Mesa
Mountain · Arizona
Big Indian
Mountain · Utah