Engineer Mountain is a mountain summit located in
San Juan County,
Colorado
Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of t ...
, United States.
It is part of the
San Juan Mountains range which is a subset of the
Rocky Mountains
The Rocky Mountains, also known as the Rockies, are a major mountain range and the largest mountain system in North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch in straight-line distance from the northernmost part of western Canada, to New Mexico in ...
, and is west of the
Continental Divide
A continental divide is a drainage divide on a continent such that the drainage basin on one side of the divide feeds into one ocean or sea, and the basin on the other side either feeds into a different ocean or sea, or else is endorheic, not ...
. Engineer Mountain is a prominent landmark set 1.5 mile immediately west of
Coal Bank Pass, and is visible from multiple viewpoints along
Highway 550, making it one of the most photographed mountains in the San Juans.
[J. D. Tanner, Emily Ressler-Tanner, ''Hiking the Four Corners: A Guide to the Area's Greatest Hiking Adventures'', 2015, Falcon Guides, , page 45.] It is situated 11 miles southwest of the community of
Silverton, on land managed by
San Juan National Forest.
Topographic relief is significant as the southwest aspect rises above Cascade Creek in approximately two miles. Neighbors include
Snowdon Peak seven miles to the east, and
Twilight Peak
Twilight Peak is the highest summit of the West Needle Mountains range of the San Juan Mountains System in southwestern Colorado.
The prominent peak is located in the Weminuche Wilderness of San Juan National Forest, south-southwest ( be ...
, five miles to the southeast.
Climate
According to the
Köppen climate classification
The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, notabl ...
system, Engineer Mountain is located in an alpine
subarctic climate
The subarctic climate (also called subpolar climate, or boreal climate) is a climate with long, cold (often very cold) winters, and short, warm to cool summers. It is found on large landmasses, often away from the moderating effects of an ocean, ge ...
zone with long, cold, snowy winters, and cool to warm summers.
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
Runoff, run-off or RUNOFF may refer to:
* RUNOFF, the first computer text-formatting program
* Runoff or run-off, another name for bleed, printing that lies beyond the edges to which a printed sheet is trimmed
* Runoff or run-off, a stock market ...
from the mountain drains into tributaries of the
Animas River
Animas River (''On-e-mas''; es, Río de las Ánimas) is a river in the western United States, a tributary of the San Juan River (Colorado River), San Juan River, part of the Colorado River, Colorado River System.
The Animas-La Plata Water Pro ...
.
Gallery
File:Engineer Mountain, Colorado.jpg, Northeast aspect
File:Engineer Mountain Summit 12998 ft. - panoramio.jpg, View of the summit from Northeast Ridge
File:Engineer Mountain Highway 550.jpg, Southeast aspect
File:Engineer Mtn, CO (9379559087).jpg, Aerial view, with Coal Bank Pass to right side
File:Colorado Trail - Engineer Mountain.jpg, West aspect
File:North Side Engineer Mountain.jpg, North aspect
File:Engineer Mountain Durango.jpg
See also
*
References
External links
* Weather forecast
Engineer Mountain* Engineer Mountain drone video
YouTube
{{Mountains of Colorado
Mountains of San Juan County, Colorado
San Juan Mountains (Colorado)
Mountains of Colorado
North American 3000 m summits
San Juan National Forest