Double Mountains | |
---|---|
Highest point | |
Elevation | 2580+ feet (786+ m) [1] [2] |
Prominence | 540 ft (160 m) [1] |
Coordinates | 33°03′44″N 100°27′15″W / 33.06222°N 100.45417°W [3] |
Geography | |
Location | Stonewall County, Texas, U.S. |
Parent range | Plains of Central Texas [1] |
Topo map | USGS Double Mountains |
Geology | |
Age of rock | Cretaceous (Comanche Series) [4] |
Mountain type | Erosional remnant |
Climbing | |
Easiest route | Drive/hike |
Double Mountains is the name of a pair of flat-topped buttes located 13 miles (21 km) southwest of Aspermont in Stonewall County, Texas. [5] While the Handbook of Texas gives their elevation as either 2,000 ft (610 m) [6] or 2,400 ft (732 m), [5] United States Geological Survey maps give the elevation of the western mountain as 2,523 ft (769 m) [7] and that of the eastern mountain as between 2,580 and 2,600 ft (786 and 792 m). [1] [2] Together, the mountains form part of the high ground dividing the watersheds of the Salt Fork and Double Mountain Fork Brazos River. [8]
Rising some 500–800 feet (150–250 m) above the surrounding plains, [2] [6] the higher eastern mountain is the highest point in Stonewall County [5] and the most topographically prominent point for almost 160 miles (257 km), the nearest more prominent peak being Mount Scott in Oklahoma. [9] As such an isolated geographical feature, the mountains are visible from a great distance, and feature commanding views from their tops. [2]
Their prominence has long made them important regional landmarks, [6] dating back at least to 1788, when Jose Mares opened a trail from San Antonio to Santa Fe; thereafter, the mountains were waymarkers "for every westward expedition and a rendezvous for buffalo hunters." [8] They were also cited by the surveying party of Randolph B. Marcy in 1849. [6]
Although paved roads do not lead directly to the mountains, they are accessible via paved Farm to Market Roads 2211 and 610 and dirt county roads; a steep dirt road leads up to the summit of each of the pair of mountains. A prominent radio tower stands on the eastern summit. [2]
At one time, Comanche leader Quanah Parker and his band lived on or near the mountains, [10] and according to one source, the mountains were once a sacred place to the Comanches. [11]
A town of Double Mountain once existed a few miles north of the hills. Established in 1886, the community featured a post office, sheriff, schoolhouse, and Methodist and Baptist churches for several years in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, but had become a ghost town by the 1980s. [6]