Snowdon Peak

LocationSan Juan County, Colorado, USParent rangeRocky Mountains
San Juan Mountains
Needle Mountains^[1]Topo mapUSGS Snowdon PeakGeologyAge of rockStatherianType of rockQuartziteClimbingEasiest routeclass 2+ scramble^[2] NE ridge^[4]

Snowdon Peak is a 13,077-foot-elevation (3,986-meter) mountain summit located in San Juan County, Colorado, United States.^[3] It is situated seven miles south of the community of Silverton, in the Weminuche Wilderness, on land managed by San Juan National Forest. It is part of the San Juan Mountains range which is a subset of the Rocky Mountains of North America, and is set nine miles west of the Continental Divide. Topographic relief is significant as the east aspect rises 4,300 feet (1,300 meters) above the Animas River in approximately 1.5 mile. Neighbors include Mount Garfield three miles to the east-southeast, and Twilight Peak, which is the nearest higher peak, 3.7 miles to the south-southwest. This mountain can be seen from U.S. Route 550. The mountain is named after Snowdon, the highest mountain in Wales.^[5]

Climate

According to the Köppen climate classification system, Snowdon Peak is located in an alpine subarctic climate zone with long, cold, snowy winters, and cool to warm summers.^[6] Due to its altitude, it receives precipitation all year, as snow in winter, and as thunderstorms in summer, with a dry period in late spring. Precipitation runoff from the mountain drains into tributaries of the Animas River.

Geology

Snowdon Peak is part of the Uncompahgre Formation, which is a sequence of quartzite and black phyllite some 8,200 feet (2,500 meters) in thickness.^[7] The formation dates to the Statherian period and is interpreted as metamorphosed marine and fluvial sandstone, mudstone, and shale. The formation overlies plutons with an age of 1,707 million years.

Gallery

See also

• Mountains of San Juan County, Colorado

References

External links

• Weather forecast: Snowdon Peak