THE BUTTE COUNTY LAND BRIEF
Land in the
Eastern Snake River Basalt Plains setting.
Butte County has 2,236.5 square miles of land in Idaho. 7 mapped landscape regions meet across Butte County: Eastern Snake River Basalt Plains, Dry Intermontane Sagebrush Valleys, Dry Gneissic-Schistose-Volcanic Hills, among others.
The Snake River Plain is lower and gentler than its surrounding mountains. Alluvial valleys, sagebrush-covered plains, low hills and scattered lava fields form its principal landscape patterns.
Regional context: Snake River Plain ↗ · Regional mapping across the county footprint
Where the landscape changes
Butte County intersects 7 mapped regional units. The largest mapped shares are:
- Eastern Snake River Basalt Plains33.5%
- Dry Intermontane Sagebrush Valleys25.9%
- Dry Gneissic-Schistose-Volcanic Hills16.5%
- Barren Mountains11.5%
- Lava Fields8.8%
Middle Rockies in Butte County
Forested mountain ranges rise above grassy or shrubby intermountain valleys. The Middle Rockies combine alpine high country, partly wooded foothills and valleys supplied by mountain streams.
Read the regional source ↗Idaho Batholith in Butte County
A deeply cut mountainous plateau forms the Idaho Batholith. Granitic terrain supports conifer forests, while deep canyons introduce warmer settings with pine, shrubs and grasses.
Read the regional source ↗Finding your parcel within Butte County
The atlas lists 3 cities, towns, townships, and Census communities associated with Butte County, including Arco, Moore, Butte City. The list includes overlapping geography types and does not divide the county into exclusive service areas.
Butte County by land and water
The Census records 2.03 square miles of water within Butte County, or 0.1% of its total area. That share is close to Butte County’s 0.1%. This is geographic context; waterfront status and usable land must be checked at the parcel.
For scale, Butte County has 13,233.7 times the land area of nearby Butte City city (0.17 square miles). These areas describe boundaries, not comparable property prices.
The Census boundary meets Bingham County, Blaine County, Clark County, Custer County, Jefferson County, Lemhi County within Idaho. A tract near one of these lines should be matched to the county identifier on its own records.

