Saint Mary Peak is a mountain
summit
A summit is a point on a surface that is higher in elevation than all points immediately adjacent to it. The topography, topographic terms acme, apex, peak (mountain peak), and zenith are synonymous.
The term (mountain top) is generally used ...
located in
Ravalli County, Montana.
Description
Saint Mary Peak is located in the
Bitterroot Range, which is a subset of the
Rocky Mountains. It is situated eight miles west of
Stevensville in the
Selway–Bitterroot Wilderness
The Selway–Bitterroot Wilderness is a protected wilderness area in the states of Idaho and Montana, in the northwestern United States. At 1.3 million acres (5,300 km²), it is one of the largest designated wilderness areas in the United S ...
, on land managed by
Bitterroot National Forest.
The summit lies five miles east of the Idaho–Montana border. Precipitation
runoff from the mountain drains into tributaries of the
Bitterroot River
The Bitterroot River is a northward flowing river running through the Bitterroot Valley, from the confluence of its West and East forks near Conner in southern Ravalli County to its confluence with the Clark Fork River near Missoula in Missoul ...
.
Topographic relief is significant as the summit rises over above Big Creek in three miles. A popular 3.5-mile hiking trail leads to a
fire lookout tower
A fire lookout tower, fire tower or lookout tower, provides housing and protection for a person known as a "fire lookout" whose duty it is to search for wildfires in the wilderness. It is a small building, usually on the summit of a mountain or ...
at the summit.
[Aaron Theisen (2018), ''Day Hiking: Glacier National Park and Western Montana'', Mountaineers Books, ] The lookout was originally built in 1931 and reconstructed in 1953, and was placed on the
National Register of Historic Places in 2018. This landform's toponym 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 ...
.
Climate
Based on the
Köppen climate classification, Saint Mary Peak is located in a
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 characterized by long, usually very cold winters, and mild summers.
Winter temperatures can drop below −10 °F with wind chill factors below −30 °F.
Gallery
File:Stevensville, Montana - panoramio.jpg, Saint Mary Peak rises above Stevensville, Montana
File:St. Marys Peak (10441768804).jpg, Saint Mary Peak
File:Ravalli County, MT, USA - panoramio (1).jpg, Saint Mary Peak
File:St Mary's Peak Fire Lookout.jpg, Saint Mary Peak fire lookout tower
File:St. Mary Peak looking Northwest - panoramio.jpg, View from summit looking west to Heavenly Twins
File:View of the Bitterroot Range from St. Mary's Peak.jpg, Summit view
See also
*
Geology of the Rocky Mountains
*
National Register of Historic Places listings in Ravalli County, Montana
References
External links
* Weather forecast
Saint Mary Peak* Saint Mary Peak Trail
Hikingproject.com
{{Portal bar, Geography, Geology, Mountains, Montana
Bitterroot Range
Mountains of Montana
Mountains of Ravalli County, Montana
North American 2000 m summits
Bitterroot National Forest