Needle Rock Natural Area

Last updated
Needle Rock [1]
Needle Rock Natural Area.JPG
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 / 38.7244335; -107.5500571
Geography
USA Colorado relief location map.svg
Red triangle with thick white border.svg
Needle Rock
Location Delta County, Colorado, U.S.
Parent range West Elk Mountains
Topo map(s) USGS 7.5' topographic map
Crawford, Colorado
Geology
Rock age 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. With 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.

Contents

The Needle Rock Natural Area is managed by the Bureau of Land Management. [6]

See also

Related Research Articles

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">West Elk Mountains</span> Mountain in the state of Colorado

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.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mendicant Ridge</span> Mountain in the state of Colorado

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).

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Whetstone Mountain</span> Mountain in Colorado, United States

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marcellina Mountain</span> Mountain in Colorado, United States

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gothic Mountain</span> Mountain in 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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Carbon Peak</span> Mountain in Colorado, United States

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 one of several prominent laccoliths found in the West Elk Mountains.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Smith Fork (Colorado)</span> River

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Landsend Peak</span> Mountain in Colorado, US

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.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Youngs Peak</span> Mountain in Colorado, USA

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.

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Matchless Mountain is a high mountain summit in the Elk Mountains range of the Rocky Mountains of North America. The 12,389-foot (3,776 m) mountain is located in Gunnison National Forest, 18.3 miles (29.4 km) east-southeast of the Town of Crested Butte in Gunnison County, Colorado, United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anthracite Range</span> Mountain range in Colorado, United States

The Anthracite Range is a mountain range in the West Elk Mountains, a sub-range of the Rocky Mountains of North America. The range is located in Gunnison County of western Colorado and lies within the West Elk Wilderness of the Gunnison National Forest. The Anthracite Range is one of several prominent laccoliths found in the West Elk Mountains.

References

  1. 1 2 "Needle Rock". Geographic Names Information System . United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior.
  2. 1 2 "Mineral Resources of the West Elk Wilderness and Vicinity, Delta and Gunnison Counties, Colorado: Open-file report 77-751, 110 pp" (PDF). Department of the Interior: United States Geological Survey. 1977.
  3. 1 2 Noe, D. C., and Alexander T. Klink. “OF-15-06 Geologic Map of the Crawford Quadrangle, Delta and Montrose Counties, Colorado.” Geologic, 1:24,000. Open File Report. Golden, CO: Colorado Geological Survey, 2015.
  4. The elevation of Needle Rock includes an adjustment of +1.473 m (+4.83 ft) from NGVD 29 to NAVD 88.
  5. "America's Volcanic Past: Colorado". Vancouver, Washington: USGS: Cascades Volcano Observatory (CVO). Archived from the original on 2006-09-23. Retrieved 2011-10-13.
  6. BLM Needle Rock Natural Area Webpage

Needle Rock Article - summitpost.org