Needle Rock [1] | |
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Needle Rock in 2016. | |
Highest point | |
Elevation | 7,797 ft (2,377 m) |
Coordinates | 38°43′28″N107°33′00″W / 38.7244335°N 107.5500571°W Coordinates: 38°43′28″N107°33′00″W / 38.7244335°N 107.5500571°W |
Geography | |
Location | Delta County, Colorado, U.S. |
Parent range | West Elk Mountains |
Topo map | USGS 7.5' topographic map Crawford, Colorado |
Geology | |
Age of rock | c.a. 28 Ma |
Mountain type | Igneous Intrusion |
Climbing | |
Easiest route | rock |
Needle Rock Natural Area [1] is located at the western edge of the West Elk Mountains of Colorado. The surrounding terrain is characterized by laccolithic mountains flanked by precipitous cliffs, extensive talus aprons, forested mesas, canyons, and spacious, well-watered intermontane basins. [2] Needle Rock is an intrusive plug of monzonite porphyry [3] cropping out 3.5 miles (5.6 km) east-northeast (bearing 68°) of the Town of Crawford in Delta County, Colorado, United States. At an elevation of 7,797 feet (2,377 m), [4] the towering rock spire stands 800 feet (240 m) tall above the floor of the Smith Fork of the Gunnison River valley. The massive rock feature originated in the Oligocene geological epoch when magma intruded between existing sedimentary rocks [5] as the crown of a buried laccolith [3] or possibly the underlying conduit of a laccolith. [2] Subsequent erosion has exposed the prominent rock formation seen in the natural area today.
The Needle Rock Natural Area is managed by the Bureau of Land Management. [6]
Mount Sopris is a twin-summit mountain in the northwestern Elk Mountains range of the Rocky Mountains of North America. The 12,965-foot (3,952 m) mountain is located in the Maroon Bells-Snowmass Wilderness of White River National Forest, 6.6 miles (10.7 km) north by northeast of the community of Redstone in Pitkin County, Colorado, United States.
Mount Lamborn is a mountain summit in the West Elk Mountains range of the Rocky Mountains of North America. The 11,402-foot (3,475 m) peak is located in Gunnison National Forest, 5.9 miles (9.5 km) southeast by south of the Town of Paonia in Delta County, Colorado, United States. The summit of Mount Lamborn is the highest point in Delta County. Together with nearby Landsend Peak to the southwest, it lies at the western edge of the West Elks, rising dramatically nearly 6,000 ft above the valley of the North Fork Gunnison River to the west.
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.
Snowmass Peak in the U.S. state of Colorado dominates the view from Snowmass Lake. It is often mistaken for Snowmass Mountain, the thirty-fourth highest mountain peak in the state, as well as for Hagerman Peak. Snowmass Peak is not really a peak but the lower end of Hagerman Peak's east ridge. Natural forced perspective causes the optical illusion that Snowmass Peak is higher than Hagerman Peak though it is actually 221 ft shorter than Hagerman's summit. This illusion combined with its striking rise behind Snowmass Lake justifies it being a named point on USGS topographical maps. It is located in the Elk Mountains, within the Maroon Bells-Snowmass Wilderness of the White River National Forest. It lies along the border between Pitkin and Gunnison counties, west of Aspen and southwest of the town of Snowmass Village.
Crested Butte is a prominent mountain summit in the Elk Mountains range of the Rocky Mountains of North America. The 12,168-foot (3,709 m) peak is located in Gunnison National Forest, 2.1 miles (3.4 km) northeast by east of the Town of Crested Butte in Gunnison County, Colorado, United States. Ski lifts and runs of the Crested Butte Mountain Resort occupy the north side of the mountain.
Mendicant Ridge is a massive 12 miles (19 km) long high mountain located about 9 miles (14 km) east-southeast of Crawford, Colorado in the Gunnison National Forest, Gunnison County, Colorado, United States. The ridge marks the western edge of the West Elk Mountains range of the Rocky Mountains of North America and dominates the eastern skyline of the adjacent valley with about 5,000 ft (1,500 m) of vertical relief above Crawford State Park. Trending roughly northeast, Mendicant Ridge has four distinct summits that are often confused in the reference literature. From Castle Rock summit at 11,205 ft (3,415 m) on the southwest, the ridge rises to Mendicant Ridge South summit at 11,425 ft (3,482 m), then to a higher central summit at 11,603 ft (3,537 m), and finally to the Mendicant Ridge High Point located on the northeast end at an elevation of 11,841 ft (3,609 m).
Tomichi Dome rises north of U.S. Highway 50 west of Hot Springs Creek and south of Waunita Hot Springs Reservoir in the southeast quarter of Gunnison County, Colorado. It is situated within the Gunnison National Forest.
Mount Gunnison is a prominent mountain summit in the West Elk Mountains range of the Rocky Mountains of North America. The 12,725-foot (3,879 m) peak is located in the West Elk Wilderness of Gunnison National Forest, 22.2 miles (35.7 km) west by south of the Town of Crested Butte in Gunnison County, Colorado, United States. The mountain is named in honor of John Williams Gunnison who explored the area.
West Elk Peak, elevation 13,042 ft (3,975 m), is the highest summit in the West Elk Mountains of Gunnison County, Colorado. The mountain is in the West Elk Wilderness, northwest of Gunnison. The terrain consists mostly of volcanic breccia, known in this area as West Elk Breccia, dated at 35 to 30 million years old.
Chair Mountain is a prominent mountain summit in the Elk Mountains range of the Rocky Mountains of North America. The 12,727-foot (3,879 m) peak is located in the Raggeds Wilderness of Gunnison National Forest, 5.0 miles (8.1 km) west by south of the Town of Marble in Gunnison County, Colorado, United States.
East Beckwith Mountain is a prominent mountain summit in the West Elk Mountains range of the Rocky Mountains of North America. The 12,441-foot (3,792 m) peak is located in the West Elk Wilderness of Gunnison National Forest, 13.4 miles (21.5 km) west by south of the Town of Crested Butte in Gunnison County, Colorado, United States.
Whetstone Mountain, elevation 12,527 ft (3,818 m), is a summit in the Gunnison National Forest of western Colorado. The mountain is located 3 mi (4.8 km) south of Crested Butte in Gunnison County. Whetstone Mountain is one of several prominent laccoliths found in the West Elk Mountains.
Mount Guero is a prominent mountain summit in the West Elk Mountains range of the Rocky Mountains of North America. The 12,058-foot (3,675 m) peak is located in the West Elk Wilderness of the Gunnison National Forest, 13 miles (21 km) east of Crawford, Colorado in Delta County and 24.3 miles (39.1 km) west-southwest of the Town of Crested Butte in Gunnison County, Colorado, United States.
Marcellina Mountain is a prominent mountain summit in the West Elk Mountains range of the Rocky Mountains of North America. The 11,353-foot (3,460 m) peak is located in the Raggeds Wilderness of Gunnison National Forest, 15.0 miles (24.1 km) west by north of the Town of Crested Butte in Gunnison County, Colorado, United States.
Gothic Mountain is a prominent mountain summit in the Elk Mountains range of the Rocky Mountains of North America. The 12,631-foot (3,850 m) peak is located in Gunnison National Forest, 1.1 miles (1.8 km) west by south of the ghost town of Gothic in Gunnison County, Colorado, United States. Gothic Mountain takes its name from its pinnacles said to resemble Gothic architecture.
Carbon Peak, elevation 12,088 ft (3,684 m), is a summit in the West Elk Mountains of Colorado. The peak is southwest of Crested Butte in the Gunnison National Forest. Carbon peak is a laccolith formed during the mid-Tertiary period, and is part of the “laccolith triangle” as described by the Colorado Geological Survey.
Italian Mountain is a high mountain summit in the Elk Mountains range of the Rocky Mountains of North America. The 13,385-foot (4,080 m) thirteener is located in Gunnison National Forest, 13.2 miles (21.3 km) east-northeast of the Town of Crested Butte in Gunnison County, Colorado, United States. Italian Mountain was so named because the mountain's tones were said to resemble the colors of the Italian tricolor: green, white, and red.
Landsend Peak is a prominent wedge-shaped mountain located in the West Elk Mountains range northeast of Crawford, Colorado. The summit of Landsend Peak has an elevation of 10,806 ft (3,294 m) rising dramatically about 4,000 ft (1,200 m) above the valley below. Together with nearby Mount Lamborn to the northeast, it delineates the western edge of the West Elk Mountains, and the two massifs top out about 1 mile (1.6 km) higher than the adjacent North Fork Gunnison River. Both peaks lie within the Gunnison National Forest near the physiographic boundary of the Rocky Mountains and the Colorado Plateau provinces. Geologically, Landsend Peak and Mount Lamborn are exposed igneous intrusions that geologists call laccoliths.
West Beckwith Mountain is a prominent mountain summit in the West Elk Mountains range of the Rocky Mountains of North America. The 12,185-foot (3,714 m) peak is located in the West Elk Wilderness of Gunnison National Forest, about 16.5 miles (26.5 km) southwest of Crested Butte in Gunnison County, Colorado, United States.
Youngs Peak is a small mountain located on the western side of the West Elk Mountains just east of and overlooking Crawford, Colorado. It has an elevation of 7,424 ft (2,263 m) with about 600 ft (180 m) of vertical relief above the town below. Although much of the mountain is covered with sedimentary rocks, Saddle Mountain is an exposed igneous intrusion that geologists call a laccolith.
Needle Rock Article - summitpost.org
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