On their web site, the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department used to state "[Enchanted Rock] is the second-largest batholith (underground rock formation uncovered by erosion) in the United States," and many other web sites continue to say this. The General Land Office of Texas has issued a map which says Enchanted Rock is the second-largest granite outcropping in the U.S. Neither statement is particularly accurate.

Yes, ER is a batholith, and a nice one. No, it's not the second largest in the U.S. Considering that the Sierra Nevada and Peninsular Ranges batholiths both make up sizable chunks of the state of California and the Idaho Batholith makes up a substantial piece of the northwest; I'd have to say Enchanted Rock Batholith doesn't come anywhere close. Second largest batholith in Texas? Yes, I could agree with that, but I haven't measured (and I'm not planning on doing so) so that's just based on eye-balling the map.

Now, technically Enchanted Rock (the hill) is what is called an exfoliation dome. It is a big exfoliation dome, but it is clearly not as tall as Stone Mountain in Georgia (which is well, a mountain, and has a tram and some monumental-size Confederate graffiti). Now, I'm not sure if that makes Enchanted Rock the second largest exfoliation dome in the U.S. There is not, as far as I know, a listing of this sort of thing anywhere. For instance, Half Dome in Yosemite Valley is a huge exfoliation structure, but as its name suggests, it's only half a dome and I'm not even sure it is made of granite. Independence Rock in Wyoming is a nice exfoliation dome, but when I was there, it didn't look as large as ER. However, I certainly can't name every exfoliation dome in the U.S. And not every granite dome is necessarily an exfoliation dome. I'm not even sure if "second largest" is supposed to mean "height" or "area" or what?

In his excellent book "Enchanted Rock State Natural Area: A guide to the landforms," James F. Petersen writes "The Texas State Department of Parks and Wildlife reports that Enchanted Rock is the second largest exfoliation dome in the United States. The largest is Stone Mountain, in Georgia." Notice that while Dr. Petersen does state that Stone Mountain is the largest dome, he places responsibility for the "second largest" claim with Parks and Wildlife. To anyone with an academic background, this is a clear warning sign.

Whatever the truth of all this may be, it is important to keep a sense of perspective. Two things jump to mind. The first is that Enchanted Rock is a special place regardless, and the second is "Does size really matter?"