Eastern Mojave Vegetation Aquarius Plateau, Garfield County, Utah.
 
Gazetteer

Query: G.N.I.S.

See also: Boulder Mountain. Escalante Mountains. Table Cliff Plateau. Bluebell Knoll.

There are multiple definitions of the Aquarius Plateau. USGS maps appear to show the Aquarius Plateau equal in designation to, and situated between Boulder Mountain and the Escalante Mountains. Table Cliff Plateau would be excluded by the exclusion of the Escalante Mountains.

However, The GNIS lists Boulder Mountain, the Escalante Mountains, and Table Cliff Plateau as variant names for Aquarius Plateau.

The Aquarius Plateau is the highest timbered plateau in North America, peaking at 11,328 feet at Bluebell Knoll on Boulder Mountain. Running for about 100 miles along the northern edge of the Grand Staircase, the Aquarius Plateau was formed around 20 million years ago by tectonic plate uplift on the Colorado Plateau. It encompasses more than 900 square miles, and is the largest and highest plateau in Bryce Canyon Country ... Popular recreation areas on the plateau include Box Death Hollow Wilderness Area, Powell Point, and Boulder Mountain. Trails on Boulder Mountain include the hike to Bluebell Knoll for breathtaking panoramas ... (Garfield County Tourism Bureau,2012)

Aquarius Plateau (Garfield County, Wayne County) is south of Bicknell, Torrey, Grover, and Teasdale. Northwest is Antimony and south are Escalante, Boulder, and the Escalante River. The plateau is approximately thirty-five miles long, fifteen miles wide, and was named in the mid-1870s by A. H. Thompson of the Powell Surveys. According to many this is the grandest of all the high plateaus.

Thompson is claimed to be the first white man to cross the back of the Aquarius. Today local usage breaks the Aquarius into three main sections: Boulder Mountain is east, Escalante Mountain (sic) is west, and the Aquarius Plateau is in the center but includes all three. The highest point is Bluebell Knoll at 11,253' (3,430m). (Van Cott, n.d.)


Elevation: 9888ft, 3014m.  

Literature Referring To This Location:

  • Dutton, Clarence E. 1880. Report on the Geology of the High Plateaus of Utah with Atlas. Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1880. {TAS-pdf}
  • Garfield County Tourism Bureau. 2012. Aquarius Plateau. Utah's Bryce Canyon Country. Retrieved 30 October 2017, http://www.brycecanyoncountry.com/aquarius-plateau/
  • Van Cott, John W. n.d.. Aquarius Plateau. Utah Travel Center, Points of Interest, Geography. Retrieved 30 October 2017, http://utahtravelcenter.com/pointsofinterest/land&water/aquariusplateau.htm
No collections made at this location.
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Date and time this article was prepared:7:38:42 PM, 12/9/2024.