Wheeler Geologic Area
Encyclopedia
Outcrop
An outcrop is a visible exposure of bedrock or ancient superficial deposits on the surface of the Earth. -Features:Outcrops do not cover the majority of the Earth's land surface because in most places the bedrock or superficial deposits are covered by a mantle of soil and vegetation and cannot be...
ping of layers of volcanic ash, located in the La Garita Mountains
La Garita Mountains
During the Oligocene epoch, a series of caldera building eruptions of titanic proportions, some as large as VEI-8, devastated what is now Colorado and raised up the mountain chain, part of the San Juan Mountains. The La Garita supervolcano's mega-colossal eruption created 5000 km3 of tephra,...
of Mineral County
Mineral County, Colorado
Mineral County is the second least populous of the 64 counties of the State of Colorado of the United States. The county was named for the many valuable minerals found in the mountains and streams of the area. The county population was 831 at U.S. Census 2000...
, in southern Colorado
Colorado
Colorado is a U.S. state that encompasses much of the Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains...
in the western United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
; about 10 miles east north-east
Boxing the compass
Boxing the compass is the action of naming all thirty-two points of the compass in clockwise order. Such names are formed by the initials of the cardinal directions and their intermediate ordinal directions, and are very handy to refer to a heading in a general or colloquial fashion, without...
of Creede
Creede, Colorado
The historic town of Creede is a Statutory Town that is the county seat of, and the only incorporated municipality in, Mineral County, Colorado, United States. The town population was 377 at the U.S. Census 2000.-History:...
. The ash is the result of eruptions from the La Garita Caldera
La Garita Caldera
La Garita Caldera is a large volcanic caldera located in the San Juan volcanic field in the San Juan Mountains near the town of Creede in southwestern Colorado, United States. It lies to the west of the town of La Garita, Colorado...
approximately 25 millions years ago.
The area was designated a National Monument from 1908 until 1950 and was Colorado's first National Monument. It is now part of the La Garita Wilderness
La Garita Wilderness
The La Garita Wilderness is a U.S. Wilderness Area located in the La Garita Mountains of southern Colorado. The wilderness established in 1964 in Gunnison and Rio Grande national forests includes a segment of the Colorado Trail...
and administered by the Rio Grande National Forest
Rio Grande National Forest
Rio Grande National Forest is a 1.86 million acre U.S. National Forest located in southwestern Colorado. The forest encompasses the San Luis Valley, which is the world's largest agricultural alpine valley, as well as one of the worlds largest high deserts located around mountains. The...
. Lying just below the crest of the range at an elevation of 11,960 feet (3645 m), it can be reached by a 7 mile hike on the East Bellows Trail (FS
United States Forest Service
The United States Forest Service is an agency of the United States Department of Agriculture that administers the nation's 155 national forests and 20 national grasslands, which encompass...
790), or by a difficult 14 mile four wheel drive
Four Wheel Drive
The Four Wheel Drive Auto Company, more often known as Four Wheel Drive or just FWD, was founded in 1909 in Clintonville, Wisconsin, as the Badger Four-Wheel Drive Auto Company by Otto Zachow and William Besserdich.-History:...
road.
The formations are named after Captain George M. Wheeler
George Wheeler
Captain George Montague Wheeler was a pioneering explorer and cartographer, leader of the Wheeler Survey, one of the major surveys of the western United States in the late nineteenth century...
, who explored and surveyed this area in 1874 for the U.S. Army.
External links
- GORP.com: Wheeler Geologic Area
- Sangres.com: Wheeler Geologic Area
- Wheeler Geologic Area at Rio Grande National ForestRio Grande National ForestRio Grande National Forest is a 1.86 million acre U.S. National Forest located in southwestern Colorado. The forest encompasses the San Luis Valley, which is the world's largest agricultural alpine valley, as well as one of the worlds largest high deserts located around mountains. The...