Palmyra Peak is a mountain summit located in San Miguel County of southwest

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 situated four miles south of the town of Telluride, on land managed by

Uncompahgre National Forest Uncompahgre National Forest is a U.S. National Forest covering 955,229 acres (1,492.55 sq mi, or 3,865.68 km2) in (in descending order of land area) parts of Montrose, Mesa, San Miguel, Ouray, Gunnison, Hinsdale, San Juan, and Delta ...

. It is part of the

San Juan Mountains The San Juan Mountains is a high and rugged mountain range in the Rocky Mountains in southwestern Colorado and northwestern New Mexico. The area is highly mineralized (the Colorado Mineral Belt) and figured in the gold and silver mining industry ...

which are 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 ...

. It is immediately south of

Telluride Ski Resort Telluride Ski Resort is a ski resort located in Mountain Village, Colorado. The Telluride Ski Resort is located in the southwest corner of Colorado. The resort is in the northwestern San Juan Mountains, part of the Rocky Mountains, and is home ...

, from which it is a prominent landmark, and Palmyra has the distinction of having the highest inbounds skiing terrain of any North American ski resort.

Topographic relief Terrain or relief (also topographical relief) involves the vertical and horizontal dimensions of land surface. The term bathymetry is used to describe underwater relief, while hypsometry studies terrain relative to sea level. The Latin word ...

is significant as the north aspect rises above Prospect Basin in one mile, and the west aspect rises 2,100 feet above Alta Lakes in one-half mile. The mountain's name has been officially adopted by the

United States Board on Geographic Names The United States Board on Geographic Names (BGN) is a federal body operating under the United States Secretary of the Interior. The purpose of the board is to establish and maintain uniform usage of geographic names throughout the federal governm ...

in association with the Palmyra Mine, a gold and silver mine located at an elevation of 11,650-feet on the peak's western aspect.Palmyra Mine, USGS
/ref> Other mines on its flanks included Lakeview Mine, Mountain Quail Mine, Roy Johnston mine, and Turkey Creek Mine.

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, Palmyra Peak 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 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 Bear Creek and Prospect Creek which are both tributaries of the San Miguel River.

Gallery

File:Palmyra Peak ski.jpg, Palmira Peak seen from the Telluride ski slopes File:Palmyra Peak, Silver Mountain.jpg, Palmyra Peak lined up with parent Silver Mountain behind File:Palmyra Peak sunset.jpg, Sunset on Palmyra Peak and Silver Mountain File:Palmyra Peak overcast.jpg File:Palmyra Peak with Silver Mountain.jpg, Palmyra Peak with parent Silver Mountain behind File:Palmyra Peak (fall) from San Sophia mid-station.jpg

References

{{reflist

External links

* Weather forecast
Palmyra Peak
* Palmyra Peak (left) and Silver Mountain (right) photo
Flickr
Mountains of San Miguel County, Colorado San Juan Mountains (Colorado) Mountains of Colorado North American 4000 m summits Uncompahgre National Forest

Climate

See also

Gallery

References

External links