The Confusion Range is a north-south trending mountain range in west-central
Utah
Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to it ...
, United States. It is bounded by
Snake Valley to the west,
Tule Valley
Tule Valley (also known as White Valley) is a valley in Millard County, Utah, United States.
Description
The valley is a north-south trending endorheic valley within the Great Basin (geographically), Great Basin Desert (ecologically), and Bas ...
to the east, the
Great Salt Lake Desert
The Great Salt Lake Desert (colloquially referred to as the West Desert) is a large dry lake in northern Utah, United States, between the Great Salt Lake and the Nevada border. It is a subregion of the larger Great Basin Desert, and noted for wh ...
to the north, and the
Ferguson Desert to the south. The range trends into the
Burbank Hills,
Mountain Home Range
The Mountain Home Range is a north-south trending mountain range in western Beaver County in southwest Utah, United States. It is part of the Basin and Range Province. It is bound by Hamlin Valley to the west, Snake Valley (part of this area kno ...
, and the
Wah Wah Mountains
The Wah Wah Mountains are a north-south trending range in west-central Utah, part of the larger Basin and Range Province. It is bounded by Pine Valley to the west, Wah Wah Valley to the east, the Escalante Desert to the south, and on trend with ...
to the south. In the central part of the range, an offshoot of the mountains to the west is known as the
Conger Range
The Conger Range, also called the Conger Mountains, is a mountain range in Quttinirpaaq National Park on Ellesmere Island, Nunavut, Canada, beginning about west of Mount Osborne. It is part of the Arctic Cordillera which is a vast dissected ...
. The Confusion Range is named for its "rugged isolation and confusing topography."
[Van Cott, J. W., 1990, Utah Place Names, ]
The highest peaks in the range are
Conger Mountain , which is 7,713 feet tall, and
King Top , which is 8,350 feet tall.
[
The geology of the Confusion range is deformed ]Silurian
The Silurian ( ) is a geologic period and system spanning 24.6 million years from the end of the Ordovician Period, at million years ago ( Mya), to the beginning of the Devonian Period, Mya. The Silurian is the shortest period of the Paleozo ...
to Permian
The Permian ( ) is a geologic period and stratigraphic system which spans 47 million years from the end of the Carboniferous Period million years ago (Mya), to the beginning of the Triassic Period 251.9 Mya. It is the last period of the Paleoz ...
limestone
Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...
s, dolomite Dolomite may refer to:
*Dolomite (mineral), a carbonate mineral
*Dolomite (rock), also known as dolostone, a sedimentary carbonate rock
*Dolomite, Alabama, United States, an unincorporated community
*Dolomite, California, United States, an unincor ...
s, and shale
Shale is a fine-grained, clastic sedimentary rock formed from mud that is a mix of flakes of clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolin, Al2 Si2 O5( OH)4) and tiny fragments (silt-sized particles) of other minerals, especial ...
s.[Chronic, Halka, 1990, Roadside Geology of Utah, ]
There are three main ways to travel through the Confusion Range:
*Around the north end, from Callao, Utah
Callao ( ) is a community in northern Snake Valley, along the border of Juab and Tooele counties, Utah, United States.
Description
The community was part of the original Pony Express overland route, and was first called Willow Springs in 1860. ...
to Sand Pass
Sand is a granular material composed of finely divided mineral particles. Sand has various compositions but is defined by its grain size. Sand grains are smaller than gravel and coarser than silt. Sand can also refer to a textural class of s ...
*On old Highway 6/50, on a dirt road through Cowboy Pass
A cowboy is an animal herder who tends cattle on ranches in North America, traditionally on horseback, and often performs a multitude of other ranch-related tasks. The historic American cowboy of the late 19th century arose from the ''vaquero'' ...
*On US Highway 6
U.S. Route 6 (US 6), also called the Grand Army of the Republic Highway, honoring the American Civil War veterans association, is a main route of the U.S. Highway system. While it currently runs east-northeast from Bishop, California, to P ...
/US Highway 50
U.S. Route 50 or U.S. Highway 50 (US 50) is a major east–west route of the U.S. Highway system, stretching from Interstate 80 (I-80) in West Sacramento, California, to Maryland Route 528 (MD 528) in Ocean City, Maryland, on the Atlantic ...
, through Kings Canyon (Utah)
Kings Canyon is a canyon within the Confusion Range in Millard County, Utah, United States. US Highway 6/US Highway 50 runs through the windy canyon. The area in and around the canyon is unpopulated, and is only used by humans for transportatio ...
References
{{Authority control
Mountain ranges of Utah
Mountain ranges of Juab County, Utah
Mountain ranges of Millard County, Utah
Mountain ranges of the Great Basin