The Pioneer Mountains cover in
Beaverhead County in southwestern
Montana,
USA
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...
.
The highest peaks in this range include:
*
Tweedy Mountain
Tweedy may refer to:
*Tweedy (surname)
* Tweedy (band), an American rock band
* USS ''Tweedy'' (DE-532), a U.S. Navy destroyer
* Clan Tweedy, a Scottish clan
*Tweedy Bird Loc
Bloods & Crips was an American gangsta rap group from Los Angeles C ...
()
*
Torrey Mountain ()
* Baldy Mountain ()
*
Mount Fleecer
Mount is often used as part of the name of specific mountains, e.g. Mount Everest.
Mount or Mounts may also refer to:
Places
* Mount, Cornwall, a village in Warleggan parish, England
* Mount, Perranzabuloe, a hamlet in Perranzabuloe parish, C ...
()
*
Odell Mountain ()
The Pioneer Mountains are divided into two subranges by the paved
Wise River
The Wise River is a tributary of the Big Hole River, approximately 30 mi (48 km) long, in southwestern Montana in the United States. It rises in the Beaverhead National Forest in the Pioneer Mountains in Beaverhead County. It flows NNW ...
Road: the East Pioneers and West Pioneers. The highest mountains in the entire range are in the East Pioneers - Tweedy Mountain and nearby Torrey Mountain, these two peaks are the highest on the
Beaverhead National Forest.
The two subranges are quite different from each other in appearance. The East Pioneers have rugged, heavily glaciated peaks. About of the East Pioneers are roadless, and the range holds more than 30 high lakes, including Grayling Lake, which contains
Arctic grayling.
[ ]Golden trout
The California golden trout (''Oncorhynchus aguabonita or Oncorhynchus mykiss aguabonita''), is a species of trout native to California. The golden trout is normally found in the Golden Trout Creek (tributary to the Kern River), Volcano Creek (tr ...
are present in Sawtooth and Hidden Lakes.[ Mountain goats inhabit the high crags of the range, while pronghorn utilize the lower elevation grassland foothills.][
In marked contrast to the East Pioneers, the West Pioneers are gently rolling, heavily forested mountains. The highest point in the West Pioneers is Stine Mountain, el. 9,497 ft.][ of the West Pioneers are a Wilderness Study Area. All told, about of the West Pioneers were roadless as of 1992, including the Wilderness Study Area.][
Lakes in the West Pioneers contain perhaps the last pure strain population of Arctic grayling south of Canada.][ Old growth whitebark pine and lodgepole pine is present in the West Pioneers; a stand of lodgepole pine over 500 years old is reputed to be the oldest known anywhere.][
Wolke describes the West Pioneers region as an ecological treasure.][ Wildlife in the West Pioneers includes ]elk
The elk (''Cervus canadensis''), also known as the wapiti, is one of the largest species within the deer family, Cervidae, and one of the largest terrestrial mammals in its native range of North America and Central and East Asia. The common ...
, black bear, moose, pine marten, wolverine, and northern goshawk
The northern goshawk (; ''Accipiter gentilis'') is a species of medium-large bird of prey, raptor in the Family (biology), family Accipitridae, a family which also includes other extant diurnal raptors, such as eagles, buzzards and harrier (bird) ...
.[
A site on the Beaverhead National Forest just off the Wise River Road, called Crystal Park, is available for the public to dig for quartz crystals.]
See also
* List of mountain ranges in Montana
References
External links
Article
on Goingoutside.com.
Pioneer Mountains
on Google Maps
{{Authority control
Mountain ranges of Montana
Landforms of Beaverhead County, Montana
Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest