Colorado mountain range boundaries

[Layne Bracy]

How are range boundaries determined? Is it based on a best fit, looking at the present topology, or is there an underlying geology related to the range's formation?

The area that seems the most challenging in Colorado is the general area around Mt Lincoln, where the Gore, Tenmile-Mosquito, Sawatch, and Front ranges come into proximity.

In general, by eyeballing it, I agree with the designations currently used on this site. However, there are a couple exceptions:

1)Mt Silverheels, Red Mtn C, & Hoosier Ridge seem to align more with the Front than with the Mosquito range.

2)The 12ers Elk Mtn, Copper Mtn, Sheep Mtn J, and North Sheep Mtn seem to align more with the Gore than with the Mosquito.

Are there objective criteria as to where to draw the lines, or is this designation arbitrary? I don't think the concept of a range is meaningless, but perhaps at this junction in Colorado one cannot neatly say where one range ends and another begins.

[John Kirk]

This is definitely a tough issue. Ryan has also held the view that Silverheels and all peaks east of Hoosier Pass should be considered part of the Front Range. The logic of the present designation I believe is that Boreas Pass is lower than Hoosier Pass, thus, one could say Silverheels "belongs" to the Mosquito Range if we use a 'least drop' paternity schema. When looking at the location of Silverheels on a large map, it doesn't visually look like it belongs to the very linear North-South Mosquito Range. The same would apply with the 12ers, where Vail Pass is lower than the saddle between the Jacque Peak group and the Tenmile Range. There is an inconsistency, however, as to Jacque's range identity, which is listed as 'Gore'. The 12ers would have to follow suit as well if this is assumed correct. It was actually my arbitrary decision in this case, as I split the 'Park' Range up (Ryan has Park listed for both ranges). The map itself also has a label in this area stating 'Gore Range'. Since there is a precedent for counting peaks in a range not using a 'least drop' criterion, I think it makes sense to overturn the Mosquito Range designation for the Silverheels group as well.

[RyanSchilling]

That's an interesting point about Jacque, John. I never thought about how if you adhere to the highest saddle rule, Jacque should be a Tenmile/Mosquito. As an aside, I wonder where that saddle used to be before they created those tailings ponds.

[RyanSchilling]

2)The 12ers Elk Mtn, Copper Mtn, Sheep Mtn J, and North Sheep Mtn seem to align more with the Gore than with the Mosquito.

I agree here.

Any opinions on Buckeye Peak? It's prominence saddle is at Fremont Pass, not the saddle with the Jacque group, but I still lean toward lumping it with the Gores.

Some other odd cases....

(1) Is Red Table Mountain a Sawatch?
(2) Is Sleepy Cat Peak a Flat Top?
(3) What the hell is the 11er Castle Peak?
(4) Are the peaks near Dinosaur Nat'l Mon. Uintas?

[Scott Patterson]

(2) Is Sleepy Cat Peak a Flat Top?

The answer to this is is a yes. I live nearby and it is definately part of the Flat Tops.

[John Kirk]

This is interesting since the final piece I'm trying to complete is Range for peaks < 10,000'. I'm coming up with a lot of ranges in Moffat County - certainly the most atypical of the mountainous counties. Interestingly enough, most of the northwestern mountains have a lineage in Wyoming rather than Utah, and only a small section of CO west of the Green River looks like it belongs to the Uintas.

[Scott Patterson]

Yes, the Moffat County mountains are atypical for CO. One thing unusual is that all ranges are arranged east/west instead of north/south as is the norm (San Juans and Elks are also east/west). Cross mountain is arranged north south, and could be a range?

Anyway, I believe that the Moffat County mountains are some of the least visited in the state, and some of them are probably the most difficult peaks in the state. Moffat County is the second largest county in Colorado, almost twice the size of Deleware, and has many mountains, but so far I've only run into people on one mountain in the entire county.