Double Mountains | |
Photo Size: | 350 |
Elevation: | 2580+ feet (786+ m) |
Elevation Ref: | [1] [2] |
Prominence Ft: | 540 |
Range: | Plains of Central Texas |
Location: | Stonewall County, Texas, U.S. |
Map: | USA Texas |
Coordinates: | 33.0622°N -100.4542°W |
Coordinates Ref: | [3] |
Topo: | USGS Double Mountains |
Type: | Erosional remnant |
Age: | Cretaceous (Comanche Series)[4] |
Easiest Route: | Drive/hike |
Double Mountains is the name of a pair of flat-topped buttes located 13miles southwest of Aspermont in Stonewall County, Texas.[5] While the Handbook of Texas gives their elevation as either 2000feet[6] or 2400feet,[5] United States Geological Survey maps give the elevation of the western mountain as 2523feet [7] and that of the eastern mountain as between 2580and.[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 160miles, 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]