Douglas Pass | |
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Elevation | 8,205 ft (2,501 m) [1] |
Traversed by | State Highway 139 |
Location | Garfield County, Colorado, United States |
Range | Bookcliff Mountains |
Coordinates | 39°35′51″N108°48′11″W / 39.59750°N 108.80306°W |
Topo map | USGS Douglas Pass |
Douglas Pass, elevation 8,205 feet (2,501 meters), is a mountain pass in the Book Cliffs of western Colorado. It is located in Garfield County and is traversed by State Highway 139. The pass divides the watersheds of West Douglas Creek to the north and East Salt Creek to the south. It is named for the Northern Ute, Chief Douglas. [1] [2]
The pass is not an especially high summit relative to other Colorado passes, and the road, though reasonably steep on the south side (7%), has no tight spots and only a few switchbacks. The summit gives an unusual view of the northeast face of the La Sal Mountains (twelve peaks over 12,000 feet), 76 miles (122 km) away in Utah. The remainder of the drive is basically in valleys following creeks. [3]
The Utes had established a trail over the pass, which was subsequently used by European explorers and settlers. The Domínguez–Escalante expedition crossed the pass in 1776. Following the Ute trail, a road over the pass was constructed in the 1920s. [2] [4]
The mountain consists of shale strata belonging to the Green River Formation, exposures of which can be seen on the south side of the pass. [5]
The Continental Divide of the Americas is the principal, and largely mountainous, hydrological divide of the Americas. The Continental Divide extends from the Bering Strait to the Strait of Magellan, and separates the watersheds that drain into the Pacific Ocean from those river systems that drain into the Atlantic Ocean and, along the northernmost reaches of the Divide, those river systems that drain into the Arctic Ocean and Hudson Bay.
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The Uinta Basin is a physiographic section of the larger Colorado Plateaus province, which in turn is part of the larger Intermontane Plateaus physiographic division. It is also a geologic structural basin in eastern Utah, east of the Wasatch Mountains and south of the Uinta Mountains. The Uinta Basin is fed by creeks and rivers flowing south from the Uinta Mountains. Many of the principal rivers flow into the Duchesne River which feeds the Green River—a tributary of the Colorado River. The Uinta Mountains forms the northern border of the Uinta Basin. They contain the highest point in Utah, Kings Peak, with a summit 13,528 feet above sea level. The climate of the Uinta Basin is semi-arid, with occasionally severe winter cold.
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Old Monarch Pass is a mountain pass on the border of Gunnison and Chaffee counties of west-central Colorado. It is located on the Continental Divide 0.6 miles (0.97 km) northwest of the current Monarch Pass where U.S. Route 50 crosses the divide. Old Monarch Pass divides the watersheds of Porphyry Creek, a tributary of Tomichi Creek and the Gunnison River, to the west and the South Arkansas River to the east. The name ‘‘Monarch’’ comes from nearby Monarch Ridge and the community of Monarch.
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Gunsight Pass is a high mountain pass in the Sawatch Range of the Rocky Mountains of Colorado. It is located in Gunnison County and in the Fossil Ridge Wilderness, which is managed by the Gunnison National Forest. The pass is at an elevation of 12,185 feet (3,714 m)) on a ridge connecting Square Top Mountain to the west and Broncho Mountain to the east. It divides the watersheds of Brush Creek to the north and Lamphier Creek to the south.
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