Shiva Temple (Grand Canyon)

Shiva Temple
South aspect, from South Rim
Highest point
Elevation7,646 ft (2,331 m)
Prominence1,351 ft (412 m)
Parent peakDragon Head (7,765 ft)
Isolation2.65 mi (4.26 km)
Coordinates36°10′04″N 112°09′49″W / 36.1678508°N 112.1635251°W / 36.1678508; -112.1635251
Geography
Shiva Temple
Location in Arizona
Shiva Temple
Shiva Temple (the United States)
CountryUnited States
StateArizona
CountyCoconino
Protected areaGrand Canyon National Park
Parent rangeKaibab Plateau
Colorado Plateau
Topo mapUSGS Shiva Temple
Geology
Rock type(s)Kaibab Limestone
Coconino Sandstone
Climbing
First ascentPuebloans
Easiest routeclass 4 climbing

Shiva Temple is a 7,646-foot-elevation (2,331-meter) summit located in the Grand Canyon, in Coconino County of Arizona, US. It is situated six miles north of Hopi Point overlook of the canyon's South Rim, about 2.5 miles southwest of North Rim's Tiyo Point, and two miles northwest of Isis Temple, where it towers 5,200 feet (1,600 meters) above the Colorado River. Shiva Temple is named for Shiva, the Hindu deity, destroyer of the universe. This name was applied by Clarence Dutton who began the tradition of naming geographical features in the Grand Canyon after mythological deities. Dutton believed Shiva Temple was the largest, grandest, and most majestic of the Grand Canyon buttes, with a broad, level, forested top. This mountain's name was officially adopted in 1906 by the U.S. Board on Geographic Names.

In 1937, the American Museum of Natural History led explorations to Shiva Temple and Wotans Throne in the belief that these buttes, isolated for 100,000 years from the plateau, may have evolved new species. The scientists discovered Ancestral Puebloan dwellings, deer antlers, and an empty Kodak film box that had been left behind a month earlier by pioneer Emery Kolb, his daughter Edith, Ruth Stephens Baker, Gordon Berger, and Ralph White, but no new species.

According to the Köppen climate classification system, Shiva Temple has a Cold semi-arid climate.