Montezuma Peak | |
---|---|
Highest point | |
Elevation | 7,682 ft (2,341 m) [1] |
Prominence | 289 ft (88 m) [1] |
Parent peak | Miller Peak (9,470 ft) [1] |
Isolation | 2.89 mi (4.65 km) [1] |
Coordinates | 31°21′31″N110°15′50″W / 31.3587232°N 110.2638964°W [2] |
Geography | |
Country | United States |
State | Arizona |
County | Cochise |
Protected area | Coronado National Memorial |
Parent range | Huachuca Mountains [3] |
Topo map | USGS Montezuma Pass |
Geology | |
Rock age | Jurassic [4] |
Rock type | Volcanic rock, granite |
Montezuma Peak is a 7,682-foot-elevation (2,341-meter) summit in Cochise County, Arizona, United States.
Montezuma Peak is located 12 miles (19 km) south of the city of Sierra Vista in Coronado National Memorial. It is the highest point within the memorial which is administered by the National Park Service, [5] and the 10th-highest summit in the Huachuca Mountains. [3] The mountain is composed of dacite tuff and granite. [6] The slopes are covered by oak woodlands, silk tassel, sumac, pointleaf manzanita, agave, yucca, and sotol. [7] Precipitation runoff from this peak's slopes drains east to the San Pedro River drainage basin. [3] Topographic relief is significant as the summit rises 2,280 feet (695 meters) above Montezuma Canyon in 0.8 mile (1.3 km). Coronado Cave is set within the south slope of the peak. The nearest higher neighbor is Miller Peak, 2.5 miles (4.0 km) to the northwest. [3] The mountain's toponym was officially adopted in 1959 by the U.S. Board on Geographic Names. [2] [8]
According to the Köppen climate classification system, Montezuma Peak is located in a semi-arid climate zone with mild winters and hot summers. Summer starts off dry, but progressively gets wetter as the monsoon season approaches during the months of July and August. Summer nights are comfortably cool, and temperatures drop quickly after sunset. Winters are cold, but daytime highs are usually above freezing. Winter temperatures below 0 °F (−18 °C) are uncommon, though possible. This area receives less than 20 inches (510 millimeters) of annual rainfall, and snowfall is generally light during the winter. [9]
Sierra Vista is a city in Cochise County, Arizona, United States. According to the 2020 Census, the population of the city is 45,308, and is the 27th most populous city in Arizona. The city is part of the Sierra Vista-Douglas Metropolitan Area, with a 2010 population of 131,346. Fort Huachuca, a U.S. Army post, has been incorporated and is located in the northwest part of the city. Sierra Vista is bordered by the cities of Huachuca City and Whetstone to the north and Sierra Vista Southeast to the South.
The Coronado National Memorial commemorates the first organized expedition into the Southwest by conquistador Francisco Vásquez de Coronado in 1540. The memorial is located in a natural setting on the Mexico–United States border on the southeast flank of the Huachuca Mountains south of Sierra Vista, Arizona and is bordered to the north and west by Coronado National Forest. Within the memorial is an overlook at Montezuma Pass where the Coronado expedition entered modern Arizona. The memorial confirms the ties that bind the United States and Mexico.
Miller Peak, at 9,470 feet (2,886 m), is the second-highest mountain in Cochise County, Arizona. Located approximately 10 miles south of Sierra Vista, Arizona, it is the highest mountain in the Huachuca mountain range and a popular local hiking destination. The Miller Peak Wilderness encompasses 20,190 acres and is managed by the Coronado National Forest. This is also the most southerly peak and land area to rise above 9,000 feet in the continental United States. The area was affected by the 2011 Monument fire and most of the pine trees seen in older photographs were burned and destroyed. Scrub oak are beginning to replace the areas that were previously covered by pine.
Chiricahua Peak is a 9,773 feet (2,979 m) peak located in the Chiricahua Mountains of southeastern Arizona, located about 35 miles (56 km) north of the United States–Mexico border. It is the highest summit in the Chiricahua Mountains and the highest point in Cochise County.
Arizona is a landlocked state situated in the southwestern region of the United States of America. It has a vast and diverse geography famous for its deep canyons, high- and low-elevation deserts, numerous natural rock formations, and volcanic mountain ranges. Arizona shares land borders with Utah to the north, the Mexican state of Sonora to the south, New Mexico to the east, and Nevada to the northwest, as well as water borders with California and the Mexican state of Baja California to the southwest along the Colorado River. Arizona is also one of the Four Corners states and is diagonally adjacent to Colorado.
The Huachuca Mountains are part of the Sierra Vista Ranger District of the Coronado National Forest in Cochise County in southeastern Arizona, approximately 70 miles (110 km) south-southeast of Tucson and southwest of the city of Sierra Vista. Included in this area is the highest peak in the Huachucas, Miller Peak, and the region of the Huachucas known as Canelo Hills in eastern Santa Cruz County. The mountains range in elevation from 3,934 feet (1,199 m) at the base to 9,466 feet (2,885 m) at the top of Miller Peak. The second highest peak in this range is Carr Peak, elevation 9,200 feet (2,804 m). The Huachuca Mountain area is managed principally by the United States Forest Service (41%) and the U.S. Army (20%), with much of the rest being private land (32%). Sierra Vista is the main population center.
Sharkstooth Peak is a 12,468-foot-elevation (3,800-meter) mountain summit in Montezuma County, Colorado.
Bannock Peak is a 10,329-foot (3,148-metre) mountain summit in the southern section of the Gallatin Range in Yellowstone National Park, in the U.S. state of Wyoming. The peak ranks as the sixth-highest peak in the Gallatin Range. Precipitation runoff from the mountain drains west into headwaters of the Gallatin River and east into Panther Creek which is a tributary of the Gardner River. Topographic relief is significant as the summit rises nearly 2,000 feet above Panther Creek in one mile (1.6 km). This mountain's toponym was officially adopted in 1897 by the United States Board on Geographic Names.
Carr Peak is the third-highest mountain in Cochise County, Arizona and is the second-highest mountain in the Huachuca Mountains. It rises about 10 miles (16 km) south of Sierra Vista, Arizona. The summit is in the Miller Peak Wilderness on the Coronado National Forest and about 4 miles (6 km) south of the Nature Conservancy's Ramsey Canyon Preserve. The area is well known among birders because of the variety of hummingbird species seen in the area as well as the dozens of southwestern specialties such as Apache pine, Chihuahua pine, ridge-nosed rattlesnake, lesser long-nosed bat and elegant trogon.
Tipton Peak is a 10,941-foot elevation (3,335 m) summit located in Elko County, Nevada, United States.
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