Moon Butte is 20-25 miles from Big Water, Utah. It rises from the tropic shale (moon landscape) formation on the north side of Lake Powell. The greyish-black tropic shale (moon-like landscape) was once the bottom of a 93 million year old ancient ocean called the Western Cretaceous Inland Seaway.

The tropic shale is rich in plesiosaur and many other marine fossils. Some fossils finds on this trip are included in this gallery. Note the lavish 5-star breakfast setup shown in some images. A USGS survey marker shows it is one of the last places surveyed in the continental United States.
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