eaglesyndrome
Do the Beartooth Mountains have the largest contiguous area above 10,000 feet elevation in the United States?
The first step to answering this question is to size up the area. The principal contiguous area above 10,000 feet in the Beartooth Mountains surrounds Castle Mountain in Carbon County, Montana. The total area is 135 square miles comprised of 106 square miles in Carbon County, Montana and 29 square miles in Park County, Wyoming. Is that larger than any other such area in the United States?
Well, in Colorado there is an unbroken chain of mountains and high country above 10,000 feet that extends south from the Medicine Bow Mountains across 10,276-foot Cameron Pass all the way to the San Juan Mountains in New Mexico. Beyond Cameron Pass is the Never Summer Range. The ridge walk wanders through Rocky Mountain National Park along the Continental Divide. The Continental Divide continues on the crest of the Front Range over the Eisenhower Tunnel to Grays Peak at 14,270 feet, the highest point on the Continental Divide within the United States. In the course of more than 500 miles the crest traverses the Medicine Bow Mountains, Never Summer Range, Front Range, Mosquito Range, Sawatch Range, La Garita Mountains, and the San Juan Mountains. For more than 500 miles, the lowest pass is Cumbres Pass, 10020 ft, near the New Mexico state line. Terrain over 10,000 feet continues for 29 miles into New Mexico. The area above 10,000 feet elevation encompasses an area of 8500 square miles!
The vast contiguous area above 10,000 feet in Colorado (and a little bit in New Mexico) is more than 60 times the contiguous area above 10,000 feet in the Beartooths. So, it would be no more absurd to claim that Maryland is the largest state than it is to claim that the Beartooths have the largest contiguous area above 10,000 feet.
The Sierra Nevada contains two such areas, both of which are larger than the 135 square miles in the largest glob above 10,000 feet found in the Beartooth Mountains. The highest part of the Sierra Nevada including Mount Whitney contains one continuous area of more than 1200 square miles, about nine times the size of the corresponding Beartooth area. The northern Sierra Nevada has another such area that is around 160 square miles.
To abbreviate, let us use “10k glob” to mean an a contiguous area above 10,000 feet in elevation. The Sangre de Cristo Mountains boast three 10k globs, each at least twice the size of the Beartooth Plateau 10k glob.
It turns out that the Beartooth Plateau 10k glob ranks 20th in the United States. Here is a list of the top twenty.
Contiguous areas over 10,000 feet
Region ============ sq miles == Highest Peak == Elev
High Rocky Mountains == 8500 == Mount Elbert === 14433
High Sierra Nevada ==== 1260 == Mount Whitney = 14491
Uinta Mountains ====== 1020 == Kings Peak ==== 13528
Wind River Range ====== 940 == Gannett Peak == 13804
Absaroka Range east === 490 == Francs Peak === 13153
Culebra Range ======== 360 == Culebra Peak == 14047
Flat Tops north ======== 330 == Flat Top Mtn === 12354
Sangre de Cristo Mtns, CO 280 == Crestone Peak = 14294
Sangre de Cristo Mtns, NM 280 == Truchas Peak == 13102
Grand Mesa ========== 200 == Crater Peak === 11237
Bighorn Mountains ===== 180 == Cloud Peak === 13167
Flat Tops south ======= 170 == Blair Mountain == 11460
Park Range ========== 160 == Mount Zirkel == 12180
West Elk Mountains ==== 160 == West Elk Peak = 13035
Northern Sierra ======= 160 == Mount Ritter === 13143
Absaroka Range west === 155 == Younts Peak === 12156
Tarryall Mountains ===== 155 == Bison Peak ==== 12431
White Mountains ====== 150 == White Mtn Pk == 14246
Aquarius Plateau ====== 150 == Bluebell Knoll == 11320
Beartooth Plateau ===== 135 == Castle Mtn ==== 12612
The areas in the list above are approximate. They were determined by hand tracing the perimeters and using map software to compute the areas. No doubt, someone with access to high-powered GIS software could produce more precise figures, but that would not substantially change the ranking.
While it is claimed on Wikipedia that the Beartooth Mountains have the largest 10k glob in the United States, we can see that this claim is preposterous. I cannot prevent misinformation from being spread around, but I can present the facts so the reader can learn more about the actual topography of the United States.
The first step to answering this question is to size up the area. The principal contiguous area above 10,000 feet in the Beartooth Mountains surrounds Castle Mountain in Carbon County, Montana. The total area is 135 square miles comprised of 106 square miles in Carbon County, Montana and 29 square miles in Park County, Wyoming. Is that larger than any other such area in the United States?
Well, in Colorado there is an unbroken chain of mountains and high country above 10,000 feet that extends south from the Medicine Bow Mountains across 10,276-foot Cameron Pass all the way to the San Juan Mountains in New Mexico. Beyond Cameron Pass is the Never Summer Range. The ridge walk wanders through Rocky Mountain National Park along the Continental Divide. The Continental Divide continues on the crest of the Front Range over the Eisenhower Tunnel to Grays Peak at 14,270 feet, the highest point on the Continental Divide within the United States. In the course of more than 500 miles the crest traverses the Medicine Bow Mountains, Never Summer Range, Front Range, Mosquito Range, Sawatch Range, La Garita Mountains, and the San Juan Mountains. For more than 500 miles, the lowest pass is Cumbres Pass, 10020 ft, near the New Mexico state line. Terrain over 10,000 feet continues for 29 miles into New Mexico. The area above 10,000 feet elevation encompasses an area of 8500 square miles!
The vast contiguous area above 10,000 feet in Colorado (and a little bit in New Mexico) is more than 60 times the contiguous area above 10,000 feet in the Beartooths. So, it would be no more absurd to claim that Maryland is the largest state than it is to claim that the Beartooths have the largest contiguous area above 10,000 feet.
The Sierra Nevada contains two such areas, both of which are larger than the 135 square miles in the largest glob above 10,000 feet found in the Beartooth Mountains. The highest part of the Sierra Nevada including Mount Whitney contains one continuous area of more than 1200 square miles, about nine times the size of the corresponding Beartooth area. The northern Sierra Nevada has another such area that is around 160 square miles.
To abbreviate, let us use “10k glob” to mean an a contiguous area above 10,000 feet in elevation. The Sangre de Cristo Mountains boast three 10k globs, each at least twice the size of the Beartooth Plateau 10k glob.
It turns out that the Beartooth Plateau 10k glob ranks 20th in the United States. Here is a list of the top twenty.
Contiguous areas over 10,000 feet
Region ============ sq miles == Highest Peak == Elev
High Rocky Mountains == 8500 == Mount Elbert === 14433
High Sierra Nevada ==== 1260 == Mount Whitney = 14491
Uinta Mountains ====== 1020 == Kings Peak ==== 13528
Wind River Range ====== 940 == Gannett Peak == 13804
Absaroka Range east === 490 == Francs Peak === 13153
Culebra Range ======== 360 == Culebra Peak == 14047
Flat Tops north ======== 330 == Flat Top Mtn === 12354
Sangre de Cristo Mtns, CO 280 == Crestone Peak = 14294
Sangre de Cristo Mtns, NM 280 == Truchas Peak == 13102
Grand Mesa ========== 200 == Crater Peak === 11237
Bighorn Mountains ===== 180 == Cloud Peak === 13167
Flat Tops south ======= 170 == Blair Mountain == 11460
Park Range ========== 160 == Mount Zirkel == 12180
West Elk Mountains ==== 160 == West Elk Peak = 13035
Northern Sierra ======= 160 == Mount Ritter === 13143
Absaroka Range west === 155 == Younts Peak === 12156
Tarryall Mountains ===== 155 == Bison Peak ==== 12431
White Mountains ====== 150 == White Mtn Pk == 14246
Aquarius Plateau ====== 150 == Bluebell Knoll == 11320
Beartooth Plateau ===== 135 == Castle Mtn ==== 12612
The areas in the list above are approximate. They were determined by hand tracing the perimeters and using map software to compute the areas. No doubt, someone with access to high-powered GIS software could produce more precise figures, but that would not substantially change the ranking.
While it is claimed on Wikipedia that the Beartooth Mountains have the largest 10k glob in the United States, we can see that this claim is preposterous. I cannot prevent misinformation from being spread around, but I can present the facts so the reader can learn more about the actual topography of the United States.