| Whetstone Mountain | |
| Photo Size: | 250px |
| Photo Alt: | Whetstone Mountain |
| Elevation Ft: | 12527 |
| Elevation Ref: | [1] [2] |
| Prominence Ft: | 2456 |
| Prominence Ref: | [3] |
| Isolation Mi: | 9.39 |
| Listing: | Colorado prominent summits |
| Range: | West Elk Mountains |
| Location: | Gunnison County, Colorado, United States[4] |
| Map: | Colorado |
| Coordinates: | 38.8223°N -106.9799°W |
| Topo: | USGS 7.5' topographic map Crested Butte, Colorado |
| Easiest Route: | hike |
Whetstone Mountain, elevation 12527feet, is a summit in the Gunnison National Forest of western Colorado. The mountain is located 3miles south of Crested Butte in Gunnison County. Whetstone Mountain is one of several prominent laccoliths found in the West Elk Mountains.
Whetstone Mountain is a laccolith, formed when magma intruded into sedimentary strata of Mancos Shale and the Mesaverde Formation approximately 30 million years ago. Subsequent erosion has removed the softer, overlying sedimentary rock thereby exposing the more resistant igneous rock that characterizes the mountain today. The mountain is composed of quartz monzonite porphyry and granodiorite porphyry. Whetstone Mountain was glaciated, and the most prominent glacial cirques are located on the north side of the mountain.[5] [6]
The mountain's name stems from rock collected in the area by the Hayden Survey during the early 1870s. Whetstones (also called hornfels) are contact metamorphic rocks useful for sharpening tools.[4]