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San Juan Mountains 

San Juan Mountains
Range
none San Juan Mountains and Telluride, looking northeast from Mt. Wilson
San Juan Mountains and Telluride, looking northeast from Mt. Wilson
Country United States
State Colorado
Part of Rocky Mountains
Highest point Uncompahgre Peak
 - elevation 14,309 ft (4,361 m)
 - coordinates 38°04′18″N 107°27′14″W / 38.07167, -107.45389

The San Juan Mountains are a rugged mountain range in the Rocky Mountains in southwestern Colorado. The area is highly mineralized (the Colorado Mineral Belt) and figured in the gold and silver mining industry of early Colorado. Major towns, all old mining camps, include Creede, Lake City, Silverton, Ouray, and Telluride. Large scale mining is now uneconomical in the region, although independent prospectors still work claims throughout the range. The last large scale holdouts were the Standard Metals operation on Red Mountain Pass which operated until late in the 20th century and the ill-fated Summitville mine on the eastern slope of the San Juans.

The Summitville mine was the scene of a major environmental disaster in the 1990s when the hastily installed liner of a cyanide-laced tailing pond began leaking heavily. Summitville is in the Summitville caldera, one of many extinct volcanoes making up the San Juan volcanic field. One, the La Garita Caldera, is 35 miles (56 km) in diameter. Large beds of lava, some extending under the floor of the San Luis Valley, are characteristic of the eastern slope of the San Juans.

There is some tourism in the region, with the narrow gauge railway between Durango and Silverton being an attraction in the summer. Jeeping is popular on the old trails which linked the historic mining camps, particularly thrilling is the Black Bear Road. Visiting old ghost towns is popular, as are wilderness trekking and mountain climbing. The San Juans are extremely steep; only Telluride has made the transition to ski resort. Purgatory (now known as Durango Mountain Resort) is a small ski area north of Durango near the Tamarron Resort. There is also skiing on Wolf Creek Pass at the Wolf Creek ski area. Recently Silverton Mountain ski area has begun operation in Silverton. It is a highly rated extreme ski area and is currently available by reservation only.

The Rio Grande rises on the east side of the range. The other side of the San Juans, the western slope of the continental divide, is drained by tributaries of the San Juan, Dolores and Gunnison rivers, which all flow into the Colorado River.

The San Juan and Uncompahgre National Forests cover a large portion of the San Juan Mountains.

360° panorama of the southwestern San Juans, photographed from the Gold Hill Ridge of the Telluride Ski Resort. Ridgeline annotation indicates the names and elevations of 43 visible peaks
360° panorama of the southwestern San Juans, photographed from the Gold Hill Ridge of the Telluride Ski Resort. Ridgeline annotation indicates the names and elevations of 43 visible peaks

Contents

Prominent peaks

The 28 Peaks of the San Juan Mountains With At Least 500 Meters of Topographic Prominence
Rank Mountain Peak Elevation Prominence Isolation
1 Uncompahgre Peak NGS 4365.000 = 14,321 feet
4365 m		 1303.630 = 4,277 feet
1304 m		 00136.89 = 85.1 miles
136.9 km
2 Mount Wilson[1] 4344.080 = 14,252 feet
4344 m		 1226.515 = 4,024 feet
1227 m		 00053.21 = 33.1 miles
53.2 km
3 Mount Sneffels NGS 4315.400 = 14,158 feet
4315 m		 0929.640 = 3,050 feet
930 m		 00025.32 = 15.7 miles
25.3 km
4 Mount Eolus[1] 4294.255 = 14,089 feet
4294 m		 0665.378 = 2,183 feet
665 m		 00040.48 = 25.2 miles
40.5 km
5 Handies Peak NGS 4284.800 = 14,058 feet
4285 m		 0575.462 = 1,888 feet
575 m		 00018.00 = 11.2 miles
18.0 km
6 San Luis Peak NGS 4273.800 = 14,022 feet
4274 m		 0948.842 = 3,113 feet
949 m		 00043.41 = 27.0 miles
43.4 km
7 Vermilion Peak[1] PB 4236.719 = 13,900 feet
4237 m		 0641.604 = 2,105 feet
642 m		 00014.60 = 9.1 miles
14.6 km
8 Rio Grande Pyramid NGS PB 4214.400 = 13,827 feet
4214 m		 0567.233 = 1,861 feet
567 m		 00017.31 = 10.8 miles
17.3 km
9 Mount Oso[1] 4172.659 = 13,690 feet
4173 m		 0507.187 = 1,664 feet
507 m		 00008.81 = 5.5 miles
8.8 km
10 Tower Mountain[1] PB 4132.446 = 13,558 feet
4132 m		 0503.530 = 1,652 feet
504 m		 00008.62 = 5.4 miles
8.6 km
11 Sultan Mountain[1] PB 4076.215 = 13,373 feet
4076 m		 0569.366 = 1,868 feet
569 m		 00007.39 = 4.6 miles
7.4 km
12 Summit Peak NGS PB 4056.048 = 13,307 feet
4056 m		 0841.248 = 2,760 feet
841 m		 00064.23 = 39.9 miles
64.2 km
13 Dolores Peak[1] PB 4052.592 = 13,296 feet
4053 m		 0594.360 = 1,950 feet
594 m		 00008.02 = 5.0 miles
8.0 km
14 Lavender Peak[1] PB 4037.198 = 13,245 feet
4037 m		 0871.728 = 2,860 feet
872 m		 00039.91 = 24.8 miles
39.9 km
15 Bennett Peak[1] PB 4026.057 = 13,209 feet
4026 m		 0531.266 = 1,743 feet
531 m		 00027.52 = 17.1 miles
27.5 km
16 Conejos Peak NGS PB 4017.000 = 13,179 feet
4017 m		 0582.778 = 1,912 feet
583 m		 00013.12 = 8.2 miles
13.1 km
17 Twilight Peak[1] 4012.096 = 13,163 feet
4012 m		 0712.622 = 2,338 feet
713 m		 00007.86 = 4.9 miles
7.9 km
18 South River Peak[1] PB 4009.390 = 13,154 feet
4009 m		 0746.150 = 2,448 feet
746 m		 00035.34 = 22.0 miles
35.3 km
19 Peak 13,010[1] PB 3967.262 = 13,016 feet
3967 m		 0545.592 = 1,790 feet
546 m		 00015.39 = 9.6 miles
15.4 km
20 Lone Cone[1] PB 3846.100 = 12,618 feet
3846 m		 0692.810 = 2,273 feet
693 m		 00014.97 = 9.3 miles
15.0 km
21 Graham Peak NGS PB 3821.100 = 12,536 feet
3821 m		 0777.545 = 2,551 feet
778 m		 00016.78 = 10.4 miles
16.8 km
22 Elliott Mountain[1] PB 3762.941 = 12,346 feet
3763 m		 0682.752 = 2,240 feet
683 m		 00008.26 = 5.1 miles
8.3 km
23 Cornwall Mountain[1] PB 3746.183 = 12,291 feet
3746 m		 0531.571 = 1,744 feet
532 m		 00008.37 = 5.2 miles
8.4 km
24 Sawtooth Mountain NGS PB 3704.200 = 12,153 feet
3704 m		 0587.350 = 1,927 feet
587 m		 00028.28 = 17.6 miles
28.3 km
25 Chalk Benchmark NGS PB 3669.300 = 12,038 feet
3669 m		 0600.761 = 1,971 feet
601 m		 00011.68 = 7.3 miles
11.7 km
26 Little Cone NGS PB 3654.000 = 11,988 feet
3654 m		 0561.137 = 1,841 feet
561 m		 00009.70 = 6.0 miles
9.7 km
27 Cochetopa Dome 3394.838 = 11,138 feet
3395 m		 0537.058 = 1,762 feet
537 m		 00009.90 = 6.2 miles
9.9 km
28 Horse Mountain[1] PB 3033.307 = 9,952 feet
3033 m		 0575.158 = 1,887 feet
575 m		 00022.46 = 14.0 miles
22.5 km

History of the area

Ore wagons, San Juan Mountains, circa 1900?
Ore wagons, San Juan Mountains, circa 1900?

Mining operators in the San Juan mountain area formed the San Juan District Mining Association (SJDMA) in 1903, as a direct result of a Western Federation of Miners proposal to the Telluride Mining Association for the eight hour day, which had been approved in a referendum by 72 percent of Colorado voters.[2] The new association consolidated the power of thirty-six mining properties in San Miguel, Ouray, and San Juan counties.[3] The SJDMA refused to consider any reduction in hours or increase in wages, helping to provoke a bitter strike.

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p The elevation of this summit has been converted from the National Geodetic Vertical Datum of 1929 (NGVD 29) to the North American Vertical Datum of 1988 (NAVD 88). National Geodetic Survey
  2. ^ Roughneck—The Life aand Times of Big Bill Haywood, Peter Carlson, 1983, page 65.
  3. ^ The Corpse On Boomerang Road, Telluride's War On Labor 1899-1908, MaryJoy Martin, 2004, page 201.

Further reading

  • Bove, D. et al. (2001). Geochronology and geology of Late Oligocene through Miocene volcanism and mineralization in the western San Juan Mountains, Colorado [U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 1642]. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of the Interior, U.S. Geological Survey.
  • Lippman, P.W. (2006). Geologic map of the central San Juan Caldera Cluster, southwestern Colorado [Geologic Investigations Series I-2799]. Reston, VA: U.S. Department of the Interior, U.S. Geological Survey.

External links


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