Guinevere Castle facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Guinevere Castle |
|
|---|---|
King Arthur Castle, Guinevere Castle, and Dox Castle from the west.
|
|
| Highest point | |
| Elevation | 7,281 ft (2,219 m) |
| Prominence | 341 ft (104 m) |
| Isolation | 0.45 mi (0.72 km) |
| Parent peak | King Arthur Castle (7,344 ft) |
| Geography | |
 Guinevere Castle
Location in Arizona
Guinevere Castle
Location in the United States
|
|
| Location | Grand Canyon National Park Coconino County, Arizona, US |
| Parent range | Kaibab Plateau Colorado Plateau |
| Topo map | USGS King Arthur Castle |
| Type of rock | limestone, sandstone, mudstone |
| Climbing | |
| First ascent | Puebloans |
Guinevere Castle is a tall mountain peak in the Grand Canyon. It stands 7,281 feet (about 2,219 meters) high. You can find it in Coconino County, in northern Arizona, USA.
This peak is located near other famous spots in the Grand Canyon. It's about half a mile southeast of King Arthur Castle and one mile west of Excalibur. Guinevere Castle rises very steeply, about 5,000 feet (1,524 meters) above the Colorado River in just 4.5 miles. The weather here is usually dry and cool, known as a cold semi-arid climate.
The Story Behind the Name
Long ago, a man named Clarence Dutton started a cool tradition. He began naming places in the Grand Canyon after gods, heroes, and famous figures from old stories.
Guinevere Castle got its name from a Welsh mapmaker, Richard Tranter Evans. He named it after Guinevere, who was the queen and wife of the legendary King Arthur. This was part of a bigger idea to name many places in the area after characters and items from the Arthurian legends. Other nearby spots include King Arthur Castle, Elaine Castle, Excalibur, Gawain Abyss, Bedivere Point, Lancelot Point, Holy Grail Temple, and Galahad Point.
The name "Guinevere Castle" was officially accepted in 1908 by the United States Board on Geographic Names.
Many years later, on August 25, 1965, a climber named Harvey Butchart climbed both King Arthur Castle and Guinevere Castle. He was the first to place a small pile of rocks, called a cairn, on Guinevere Castle. However, he wasn't the very first person to reach the top. He found signs that Native Americans had been there before him, including a small shelter and a storage place for food. Guinevere Castle was the 35th of 83 peaks that Butchart would climb in the Grand Canyon!
What is Guinevere Castle Made Of?
The very top of Guinevere Castle is made of two types of rock: Permian Kaibab Limestone and a creamy-colored rock called Permian Coconino Sandstone. This sandstone is quite old! It was formed about 265 million years ago from ancient sand dunes.
Below the Coconino Sandstone, you'll find reddish, sloping layers of rock called the Permian Hermit Formation. Underneath that is the Pennsylvanian-Permian Supai Group. Even further down, there are cliffs made of Mississippian Redwall Limestone, and then sloping layers of the Cambrian Tonto Group.
When it rains, water flows off Guinevere Castle. This runoff travels west into the Colorado River through a stream called Shinumo Creek.
