Pilot Range | |
---|---|
Highest point | |
Peak | Pilot Peak |
Elevation | 10,716 ft (3,266 m) |
Coordinates | 41°01′16″N114°04′39″W / 41.021123°N 114.077392°W |
Dimensions | |
Length | 30 mi (48 km)SSW to NNE |
Width | 4 mi (6.4 km)(variable) |
Area | 80 sq mi (210 km2) [1] |
Geography | |
Country | United States |
States | Utah and Nevada |
Peaks | Copper Mountain, Bald Eagle Mountain and Rhyolite Butte |
Borders on | east: Pilot Valley Playa west: Pilot Creek Valley |
The Pilot Range [2] is a mountain range straddling the border of Box Elder County, Utah and Elko County, Nevada, United States. Lying 50 miles west of the Great Salt Lake, the range forms part of the north-west border of the Great Salt Lake Desert. The range reaches a maximum elevation of 10,716 feet at the summit of Pilot Peak. Most of the range is public Bureau of Land Management land and thus has no access restrictions. Its principal uses are mining, livestock grazing, and seasonal elk and deer hunting.
The Pilot Range begins about 15 miles (24 km) north of the community of West Wendover, and continues north-northeastwards for approximately 30 miles (48 km). The abandoned railroad town of Lucin, Utah lies two miles north-east.
The range runs SSW to NNE, [3] with various canyons spurring east and west off a prominent ridgeline. It covers an area of about 51,200 acres (20,700 ha). [1] Elevation varies from a base of 5,000 feet (1,500 m) feet to ] to 10,716 foot (3,266 m) Pilot Peak. [4] Other significant summits in the range are Copper Mountain, Bald Eagle Mountain, and Rhyolite Butte.
To the east of the range lie Pilot Valley Playa and its springs; beyond that the Silver Island Mountains, and the north section of Pilot Creek Valley to the west.
Several fresh and salty springs flow from the base of the alluvial fans at the base of the range. The largest is Bettridge Creek, a habitat for the threatened Lahontan cutthroat trout. [1] Vegetation varies from Engelmann Spruce and Limber Pine in the highest elevations, pinyon pine, mountain mahogany, and juniper in the middle elevations, sagebrush and grass in the south-face slopes and ridge-tops, and rabbitbrush, grass, and greasewood in the lower elevations. The Pilot Range cinquefoil (Potentilla cottamii) is a rare species of plant which can be found in the Pilot Range and a few other ranges nearby. [5]
The Great Basin Desert is part of the Great Basin between the Sierra Nevada and the Wasatch Range. The desert is a geographical region that largely overlaps the Great Basin shrub steppe defined by the World Wildlife Fund, and the Central Basin and Range ecoregion defined by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and United States Geological Survey. It is a temperate desert with hot, dry summers and snowy winters. The desert spans large portions of Nevada and Utah, and extends into eastern California. The desert is one of the four biologically defined deserts in North America, in addition to the Mojave, Sonoran, and Chihuahuan Deserts.
The Desatoya Mountains are located in central Nevada in the western United States, approximately 117 miles east of Reno by road. The range runs in a southwest-northeasterly direction along the border of Churchill and Lander counties, reaching a maximum elevation of 9,978 feet (3,041 m) at Desatoya Peak near Rock Creek Canyon.
The Simpson Park Mountains, also known as the Simpson Park Range, are located in Lander and Eureka counties, in central Nevada in the western United States. The mountains reach an elevation of 9,147 feet (2,788 m) at Fagin Mountain, and cover an area of approximately 310 square miles (800 km2). US Route 50 crosses the very southern end of the range at Hickison Summit between Eureka and Austin.
The Pancake Range is located in east-central Nevada in the United States. The range extends as an irregular sinuous line for approximately 90 miles (140 km) with a roughly north-south trend in Nye and White Pine counties. The range reaches an elevation of 9,240 feet (2,820 m) at Portuguese Mountain. Neighboring ranges include the White Pine, Grant and Quinn Canyon ranges across Railroad Valley on the east-southeast; and Park and Hot Creek ranges across Big Sandy Springs and Hot Creek valleys on the west-northwest. The south end of Newark Valley lies at the extreme north end of the range. The Lunar Crater Volcanic Field lies at the southwestern end of the chain with the Reveille Range to the south.
The Schell Creek Range is a linear mountain range in central White Pine County, in east-central Nevada. Its length is approximately 132 miles (212 km) in a north-south direction. Most of the range is contained within the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest, with some of the range also included in the High Schells Wilderness.
The Deep Creek Range, (often refereed to as the Deep Creek Mountains, are a mountain range in the Great Basin located in extreme western Tooele and Juab counties in Utah, United States. The range trends north–south, and is composed of granite in its central highest portion. The valley to the east is Snake Valley, and to the west is Deep Creek Valley. Nearby communities include Callao, Utah to the east and the community of Ibapah and the lands of the Confederated Tribes of the Goshute Reservation to the west.
The Snake Range is a mountain range in White Pine County, Nevada, United States. The south-central portion of the range is included within Great Basin National Park, with most of the remainder included within the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest. The range reaches a maximum elevation of 13,065 feet (3,982 m) at the summit of Wheeler Peak, the tallest independent mountain within Nevada and the second highest point within the state. The range also contains four of the five highest mountain peaks in Nevada, including all peaks greater than 12,000 feet (3,658 m) except for Boundary Peak.
The Fish Lake Valley is a 25 miles (40 km) long endorheic valley in southwest Nevada, one of many contiguous inward-draining basins collectively called the Great Basin. The alluvial valley lies just northwest of Death Valley and borders the southeast, and central-northeast flank of the massif of the White Mountains of California. The southwestern portion of the valley lies in California, with the southern tip at the edge of Inyo County east of the Chocolate Mountains, and a significant portion of the south end of the valley floor including the ranching community of Oasis, in Mono County. The valley is sparsely populated, primarily with ranchers and indigenous Paiute. The valley's Post Office and commercial services are located in the town of Dyer.
The Silver Island Range, also called the Silver Island Mountains, is a mountain range in Utah, United States, situated the northwest corner of Tooele County and the southwest corner of Box Elder County, about 15 miles (24 km) northeast of Wendover.
The Antelope Valley of southern Eureka County is a small 35 mi long valley, surrounded by four mountain ranges. Antelope Wash flows north, to endorheic flatlands at the valley's north end. Eureka, Nevada lies 20 mi east nestled among mountain ranges. From Eureka U.S. Route 50 travels west through the north end of the valley on a route to Austin.
The Bull Valley Mountains are a 30-mi (48 km) long, mountain range in southwest Utah, located in northwest Washington County. The range is adjacent the Utah border and attached to the Clover Mountains of southeast Nevada. The Great Basin Divide transects the summits of both ranges, with the Escalante Desert north and northeast of the Bull Valley Mountains, and south of the mountains the Colorado River watershed, and specifically the Santa Clara River which drains southeasterly from an escarpment along the mountain range's southeast flank.
The Curlew Valley is a 23-mile (37 km) long valley located on the northern edge of the Great Salt Lake in Box Elder County in northern Utah and extending north into Oneida County in southern Idaho.
The Fish Springs Range is a 16-mile (26 km) long narrow, and north-trending mountain range located in center-west Juab County, Utah. The northeast of the range borders the Fish Springs National Wildlife Refuge; the entire east of the range borders the Fish Springs Flat, where the east region of the flat borders the Thomas Range.
The Goshen Valley is a 17-mile-long (27 km) valley located in southern Utah County, Utah, and the valley forms part of its southeast border with the Wasatch Front, and parts of the Wasatch Range. The valley is an extension southwesterly of the Utah Valley.
The San Pitch Mountains are a 40-mile (64 km) long mountain range located in Juab and Sanpete counties in central Utah, United States.
The Stansbury Mountains are a 28-mile (45 km) long mountain range located in eastern Tooele County, Utah. It is named for U.S. Army Major Howard Stansbury, a topographical engineer, who led an expedition that surveyed the region.
The Lakeside Mountains are about a 34 miles (55 km) long mountain range located on the southwest perimeter of the Great Salt Lake; the range is located in northeast Tooele County and south Box Elder County in Utah, United States.
The Sheeprock Mountains are a 24-mile (39 km) long mountain range located in extreme southeast Tooele County, Utah, and part of northeast Juab County. The range trends southeasterly and forms a section of the northeast perimeter of the large Sevier Desert, which lies southwest of the Sheeprock Mountains.
The Newfoundland Mountains are a 20-mile (32 km) long mountain range located in southern Box Elder County, Utah, United States. The range is the only 'island' mountain range encircled by the Great Salt Lake Desert salt flat. Other ranges protrude into the desert salt flat, the Silver Island and Dugway Ranges being the premiere examples. Other individual mountains also arise as 'island' peaks, or mountains in the salt flat desert itself, most notably Granite Mountain in the south desert, and Wildcat Mountain to its north. Granite Mountain lies at the north of the Dugway Range.