Cloud Peak
Encyclopedia
Cloud Peak is the highest peak within the Big Horn Mountains
in the U.S. state
of Wyoming
. It rises to an elevation of 13167 feet (4,013 m) and provides onlookers with dramatic views and vistas. The mountain can be climbed most easily from the western side. The peak is located in the 189,000 acre (765 km²) Cloud Peak Wilderness
within Bighorn National Forest
. The northeast slope of Cloud Peak is a deep cirque
which harbors Cloud Peak Glacier
, the last active glacier
in the Bighorn Mountains.
Cloud Peak is on the border between Johnson County and Big Horn County in Wyoming and is the high point of both counties. As the high point of an isolated range, Cloud Peak has a particularly high topographic prominence
of 7067 feet (2,154 m). In fact, the mountain has the second greatest topographic prominence in Wyoming, only barely beaten by Gannett Peak
, and the fifteenth greatest topographic prominence in the contiguous United States
.
Big Horn Mountains
The Big Horn Mountains are a mountain range in northern Wyoming and southern Montana in the United States, forming a northwest-trending spur from the Rocky Mountains extending approximately 200 miles northward on the Great Plains...
in the U.S. state
U.S. state
A U.S. state is any one of the 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government. Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile. Four states use the official title of...
of Wyoming
Wyoming
Wyoming is a state in the mountain region of the Western United States. The western two thirds of the state is covered mostly with the mountain ranges and rangelands in the foothills of the Eastern Rocky Mountains, while the eastern third of the state is high elevation prairie known as the High...
. It rises to an elevation of 13167 feet (4,013 m) and provides onlookers with dramatic views and vistas. The mountain can be climbed most easily from the western side. The peak is located in the 189,000 acre (765 km²) Cloud Peak Wilderness
Cloud Peak Wilderness
The Cloud Peak Wilderness is located in north central Wyoming in the United States. Entirely within Bighorn National Forest, the wilderness was established in 1984 in an effort to preserve the wildest section of the Bighorn Mountains...
within Bighorn National Forest
Bighorn National Forest
Bighorn National Forest is located in northern Wyoming, United States and consists of over 1.1 million acres . Created as a US Forest Reserve in 1897, it is one of the oldest government-protected forest lands in the U.S...
. The northeast slope of Cloud Peak is a deep cirque
Cirque (landform)
thumb|250 px|Two cirques with semi-permanent snowpatches in [[Abisko National Park]], [[Sweden]].A cirque or corrie is an amphitheatre-like valley head, formed at the head of a valley glacier by erosion...
which harbors Cloud Peak Glacier
Cloud Peak Glacier
Cloud Peak Glacier is located in the Bighorn Mountains in the northcentral section of the U.S. state of Wyoming. Centered within the Cloud Peak Wilderness of Bighorn National Forest, Cloud Peak Glacier is the only active glacier in the Bighorn Mountains...
, the last active glacier
Glacier
A glacier is a large persistent body of ice that forms where the accumulation of snow exceeds its ablation over many years, often centuries. At least 0.1 km² in area and 50 m thick, but often much larger, a glacier slowly deforms and flows due to stresses induced by its weight...
in the Bighorn Mountains.
Cloud Peak is on the border between Johnson County and Big Horn County in Wyoming and is the high point of both counties. As the high point of an isolated range, Cloud Peak has a particularly high topographic prominence
Topographic prominence
In topography, prominence, also known as autonomous height, relative height, shoulder drop , or prime factor , categorizes the height of the mountain's or hill's summit by the elevation between it and the lowest contour line encircling it and no higher summit...
of 7067 feet (2,154 m). In fact, the mountain has the second greatest topographic prominence in Wyoming, only barely beaten by Gannett Peak
Gannett Peak
Gannett Peak is the highest peak in the U.S. state of Wyoming and straddles the boundary between Fremont and Sublette Counties along the Continental Divide.- Overview :...
, and the fifteenth greatest topographic prominence in the contiguous United States
Contiguous United States
The contiguous United States are the 48 U.S. states on the continent of North America that are south of Canada and north of Mexico, plus the District of Columbia....
.
See also
- 4000 meter peaks of North America
- Central Rocky Mountains
- Mountain peaks of North AmericaMountain peaks of North AmericaThis article comprises three sortable tables of major mountain peaks of greater North America.This article defines greater North America as the portion of the continental landmass of the Americas extending northward from Panama plus the islands surrounding that landmass...
- Mountain peaks of the Rocky MountainsMountain peaks of the Rocky MountainsThis article comprises three sortable tables of major mountain peaks of the Rocky Mountains of North America.Topographic elevation is the vertical distance above the reference geoid, a precise mathematical model of the Earth's sea level as an equipotential gravitational surface...
- Mountain peaks of the United StatesMountain peaks of the United StatesThis article comprises three sortable tables of the major mountain peaks of the United States of America.Topographic elevation is the vertical distance above the reference geoid, a precise mathematical model of the Earth's sea level as an equipotential gravitational surface...