The Neacola Mountains are the northernmost subrange of the

Aleutian Range The Aleutian Range is a major mountain range located in southwest Alaska. It extends from Chakachamna Lake (80 miles/130 km southwest of Anchorage) to Unimak Island, which is at the tip of the Alaska Peninsula. It includes all of the mountain ...

in the U.S. state of

Alaska Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S., ...

. The range is named for the Neacola River which bounds it to the north and drains the highest and most rugged peaks of the group. They are bordered on the southeast by the

Chigmit Mountains The Chigmit Mountains are a subrange of the Aleutian Range in the Kenai Peninsula and Lake and Peninsula Boroughs of the U.S. state of Alaska. Location They are located at the northeastern end of the Aleutian range, on the west side of Cook Inl ...

, another subrange of the

, on the northeast by the

Tordrillo Mountains The Tordrillo Mountains are a small mountain range in the Matanuska-Susitna and Kenai Peninsula Boroughs in the southcentral region of the U.S. state of Alaska. They lie approximately 75 miles (120 km) west-northwest of Anchorage. The range ...

, and on the west and southwest by the lakes and lowlands of

Lake Clark National Park and Preserve Lake Clark National Park and Preserve is an American national park in southwest Alaska, about southwest of Anchorage. The park was first proclaimed a national monument in 1978, then established as a national park and preserve in 1980 by the Alas ...

. The highest peak is

Mount Neacola Mount Neacola (or Neacola Peak) is the unofficial name for the high point of the Neacola Mountains, the northernmost section of the Aleutian Range of Alaska. Despite its low elevation compared to many of the major Alaskan peaks, Mount Neacola is a ...

(also known as "Neacola Peak"), 9,426 feet (2,873 m) although the name is not officially recognized.The USGS GNIS does not contain an entry for this peak. These mountains have not seen extensive exploration, due to their remoteness, typically poor weather, and lack of truly high peaks. However they are rugged and offer many climbing possibilities of an exploratory nature. Noted climber

Fred Beckey Friedrich Wolfgang Beckey (14 January 1923 – 30 October 2017), known as Fred Beckey, was an American rock climber, mountaineer and book author, who in seven decades of climbing achieved hundreds of first ascents of the tallest peaks and best ro ...

visited the range in the early 1970s; in 1991, when he was "spiritual leader" of the expedition which made the first ascent of Mount Neacola; and again in 2004. Other recorded climbing visits occurred in 1979 and 1995.

Sources

* ''American Alpine Journal'', 1980, 1992, 1996, 2005. *

References

{{Reflist Aleutian Range Mountains of Kenai Peninsula Borough, Alaska Mountains of Lake and Peninsula Borough, Alaska