Elk Mountains | |
---|---|
Elk Mountain Range [1] | |
Highest point | |
Peak | Elk Mountain |
Elevation | 1,726 m (5,663 ft)at the Elk Mountain Lookout Tower [2] |
Coordinates | 43°43′27″N104°02′29″W / 43.7241438°N 104.0413212°W Coordinates: 43°43′27″N104°02′29″W / 43.7241438°N 104.0413212°W |
Dimensions | |
Length | 55 km (34 mi)NW-SE |
Width | 6 km (3.7 mi) |
Geography | |
Country | United States |
States | South Dakota and Wyoming |
Parent range | Black Hills |
Geology | |
Age of rock | Early Cretaceous |
Type of rock | Inyan Kara rock |
The Elk Mountains are a small range of mountains in western South Dakota, forming the southwest portion of the Black Hills as part of its west-dipping monocline. [3] They are geologically distinct from the Black Hills, on the other side of a "racetrack" region of red stone. The ridge of the Elk Mountains is formed of harder sandstones. [4] The east face of the Elk Mountains is a 300-to-800-foot (91 to 244 m) high escarpment, but the west portion falls slowly and features many canyons. [3]
Most of the Elk Mountains were protected in the Harney National Forest until 1954, when this protected area joined the Black Hills National Forest. Today the large South Dakota portion of the mountain range is in the Hell Canyon District of the Black Hills National Forest, while the much smaller Wyoming portion lies in the Bearlodge District. [5] The Elk Mountains are one of three mountain ranges that comprise the Black Hills region and national forest, including the Black Hills itself and Wyoming's Bear Lodge Mountains.
Elk Mountain is the highest point of the range and has a lookout tower on its summit. Other peaks include Pilger Mountain [6] and Sullivan Peak. [3]
Few people live in or near the Elk Mountains. The closest town is Edgemont, South Dakota, to the south. Tiny unincorporated Dewey and ghost town Burdock lie to the west. Ten miles to the northwest is Newcastle, Wyoming.
Pinus ponderosa trees are predominant with nearly complete undergrowth of Carex heliophila. [7]
The San Gabriel Mountains are a mountain range located in northern Los Angeles County and western San Bernardino County, California, United States. The mountain range is part of the Transverse Ranges and lies between the Los Angeles Basin and the Mojave Desert, with Interstate 5 to the west and Interstate 15 to the east. The range lies in, and is surrounded by, the Angeles and San Bernardino National Forests, with the San Andreas Fault as its northern border.
The Bighorn Mountains are a mountain range in northern Wyoming and southern Montana in the United States, forming a northwest-trending spur from the Rocky Mountains extending approximately 200 mi (320 km) northward on the Great Plains. They are separated from the Absaroka Range, which lie on the main branch of the Rockies to the west, by the Bighorn Basin. Much of the land is contained within the Bighorn National Forest.
The Wind River Range is a mountain range of the Rocky Mountains in western Wyoming in the United States. The range runs roughly NW–SE for approximately 100 mi (160 km). The Continental Divide follows the crest of the range and includes Gannett Peak, which at 13,802 ft (4,207 m), is the highest peak in Wyoming; and also Fremont Peak at 13,750 ft (4,191 m), the third highest peak in Wyoming. There are more than 40 other named peaks in excess of 12,999 ft (3,962 m). With the exception of the Grand Teton in the Teton Range, the next 19 highest peaks in Wyoming after Gannett are also in the Winds.
The Blue Mountains are a mountain range in the northwestern United States, located largely in northeastern Oregon and stretching into extreme southeastern Washington. The range has an area of about 15,000 square miles (38,850 km2), stretching east and southeast of Pendleton, Oregon, to the Snake River along the Oregon–Idaho border.
Black Elk Peak is the highest natural point in the U.S. state of South Dakota and the Midwestern United States. It lies in the Black Elk Wilderness area, in southern Pennington County, in the Black Hills National Forest. The peak lies 3.7 mi (6.0 km) west-southwest of Mount Rushmore. At 7,244 feet (2,208 m), it has been described by the Board on Geographical Names as the highest summit in the United States east of the Rocky Mountains. Though part of the North American Cordillera, it is generally considered to be geologically separate from the Rocky Mountains. Lost Mine peak in the Chisos Mountains of Texas, at an elevation of 7,535 feet, is the easternmost peak within the continental United States above 7,000 feet.
Black Hills National Forest is located in southwestern South Dakota and northeastern Wyoming, United States. The forest has an area of over 1.25 million acres (5,066 km²) and is managed by the Forest Service. Forest headquarters are located in Custer, South Dakota. There are local ranger district offices in Custer, Rapid City, and Spearfish in South Dakota, and in Sundance, Wyoming.
The West Elk Mountains are a high mountain range in the west-central part of the U.S. state of Colorado. They lie primarily within the Gunnison National Forest, and part of the range is protected as the West Elk Wilderness. The range is primarily located in Gunnison County, with small parts in eastern Delta and Montrose counties.
Eagle Peak is a mountain in the Absaroka Range in the U.S. state of Wyoming and at 11,372 feet (3,466 m) is the highest point in Yellowstone National Park. It is located about 6 miles (9.7 km) east of the southeast arm of Yellowstone Lake.
South Dakota is a state located in the north-central United States. It is usually considered to be in the Midwestern region of the country. The state can generally be divided into three geographic regions: eastern South Dakota, western South Dakota, and the Black Hills. Eastern South Dakota is lower in elevation and higher in precipitation than the western part of the state, and the Black Hills are a low, isolated mountain group in the southwestern corner of the state. Smaller sub-regions in the state include the Coteau des Prairies, Missouri Coteau, James River Valley, the Dissected Till Plains. Geologic formations in South Dakota range in age from two billion-year-old Precambrian granite in the Black Hills to glacial till deposited over the last few million years. South Dakota is the 17th-largest state in the country.
The Black Hills are a small and isolated mountain range rising from the Great Plains of North America in western South Dakota and extending into Wyoming, United States. Black Elk Peak, which rises to 7,244 feet (2,208 m), is the range's highest summit. The Black Hills encompass the Black Hills National Forest. The name "Black Hills" is a translation of the Lakota Pahá Sápa. The hills are so called because of their dark appearance from a distance, as they are covered in evergreen trees.
The Pryor Mountains are a mountain range in Carbon and Big Horn counties of Montana, and Big Horn County, Wyoming. They are located on the Crow Indian Reservation and the Custer National Forest, and portions of them are on private land. They lie south of Billings, Montana, and north of Lovell, Wyoming.
The South Central Rockies forests is a temperate coniferous forest ecoregion of the United States located mainly in Wyoming, Idaho, and Montana. It has a considerably drier climate than the North Central Rockies forest.
The Sierra Madre Range is a mountain range in the western United States, located in south-central Wyoming and north-central Colorado. Geologically, it may be considered an extension of the Park Range of Colorado. South of the Great Divide Basin, the US Continental Divide runs along the Sierre Madre high points. Its western basins drain into the Colorado River and its eastern into the North Platte River. Buck Mountain is the highest peak in the range and lies within Colorado. Bridger Peak is its highest elevation on the Wyoming side of the range.
Burdock is an uninhabited ghost town in Argentine Township in Fall River County, South Dakota, United States.
Dewey is an unincorporated community near the southwest corner of Custer County, South Dakota, United States, less than one mile from the Wyoming border in a prairie region of the Black Hills. There are approximately five or six homes in town. Dewey has a volunteer fire department in the Edgemont city district.
The Bear Lodge Mountains are a small mountain range in Crook County, Wyoming. These mountains are protected in the Black Hills National Forest as part of its Bearlodge District. Devils Tower National Monument was the first U.S. National Monument and draws about 400,000 visitors per year to the area. The Bear Lodge Mountains are one of three mountain ranges that comprise the Black Hills region and national forest, including the Black Hills itself and South Dakota's Elk Mountains.
The Satsop Hills are foothills of the Olympic Mountains in Mason County, Washington north of Matlock, Washington, between Wynoochee Lake to the west and Lake Cushman to the east.
Hager Mountain is a volcanic peak in Oregon in the northwest corner of the Basin and Range Province in the United States. The mountain is located south of the small unincorporated community of Silver Lake in south-central Oregon, and it is in the Fremont–Winema National Forest. On the summit, there is a fire lookout operated during the summer and fall by the United States Forest Service. There are several hiking trails that lead to the lookout station.
Cicero Peak is a 6,168-foot (1,880 m) mountain in the Black Hills of Custer County, South Dakota. The mountain is 6 miles (9.7 km) south-southeast of the city of Custer, southwest of Custer State Park, and northwest of Wind Cave National Park. The closest community is Sanator, which is about 2 miles (3.2 km) northwest of Cicero Peak.
Owl Peak is in the northern Teton Range, Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming and is just east of Elk Mountain. The peak is located west of and across Jackson Lake from Lizard Creek Campground. Access to the peak is easiest by boat to the Berry Creek Trailhead at Wilcox Point then heading west at the Owl Creek Trail. After a 2 miles (3.2 km) hike along Berry Creek and Owl Creek trails, off trail access to the summit can be achieved after a steep ascent of an additional 2 miles (3.2 km). North of the mountain, the Tetons blend into the Yellowstone Plateau while to the south lies Webb Canyon.
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