Redcliff is a mountain summit located in Hinsdale County, in 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 nine miles northeast of the town of Ouray, in the

Uncompahgre Wilderness The Uncompahgre Wilderness (formerly called the Big Blue Wilderness) is a U.S. Wilderness Area in southwest Colorado comprising . Elevation in the Wilderness ranges from to , at the summit of Uncompahgre Peak. Managed by the Uncompahgre Natio ...

, 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 situated 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 ...

. Redcliff ranks as the 175th-highest peak in Colorado, and

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 west aspect rises above the West Fork Cimarron River valley in approximately one mile. Neighbors include

Precipice Peak Precipice Peak is a mountain summit located in Hinsdale County, of Colorado, United States. It is situated 10.5 miles northeast of the community of Ouray, in the Uncompahgre Wilderness, on land managed by Uncompahgre National Forest. It is pa ...

and

Dunsinane Mountain Dunsinane Mountain, or officially Dunsinane, is a mountain summit located in Hinsdale County, of Colorado, United States. It is situated 11 miles east of the community of Ridgway, in the Uncompahgre Wilderness, on land managed by Uncompahgre ...

along the west-middle Cimarron divide three miles to the north, and nearest higher neighbor

Coxcomb Peak Coxcomb Peak () is a dolerite elevation which overlooks the south end of Plumstead Valley in the Allan Hills, Victoria Land. It was reconnoitered by the New Zealand Antarctic Research Program The New Zealand Antarctic Research Programme (NZARP) ...

one-half mile to the south. An ascent of Redcliff involves 3,300 feet of elevation gain and 10 miles of hiking, round-trip.Mike Garratt, Bob Martin, 1992, ''Colorado's High Thirteeners: A Climbing and Hiking Guide'', Johnson Books, , page 108. The mountain's name was proposed by the

Colorado Mountain Club The Colorado Mountain Club (CMC), formed in 1912, is a nonprofit, 501 (c)(3) outdoor education organization based in Golden, Colorado that gathers and disseminates information regarding Colorado's mountains in the areas of art, science, literatu ...

, and was officially adopted in 1966 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 ...

. It is so named because of a large reddish-colored cliff on the mountain's east face.United States Board on Geographic Names, ''Decisions on Geographic Names in the United States'', Decision List No. 6602, 1966, page 9.

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, Redcliff 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 headwaters of both the west and middle forks of the Cimarron River.

References

External links

* Weather forecast
National Weather Service
* Redcliff photo
Flickr
{{Mountains of Colorado Mountains of Hinsdale County, Colorado San Juan Mountains (Colorado) Mountains of Colorado North American 4000 m summits Uncompahgre National Forest

Climate

See also

References

External links