The Simpson Park Mountains, also known as the Simpson Park Range, are located in
Lander and
Eureka
Eureka (often abbreviated as E!, or Σ!) is an intergovernmental organisation for research and development funding and coordination. Eureka is an open platform for international cooperation in innovation. Organisations and companies applying th ...
counties, in central
Nevada
Nevada ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. N ...
in the western
United States
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 primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
. The mountains reach an elevation of at Fagin Mountain, and cover an area of approximately .
US Route 50
U.S. Route 50 or U.S. Highway 50 (US 50) is a major east–west route of the U.S. Highway system, stretching from Interstate 80 (I-80) in West Sacramento, California, to Maryland Route 528 (MD 528) in Ocean City, Maryland, on the Atlantic O ...
crosses the very southern end of the range at Hickison Summit between
Eureka
Eureka (often abbreviated as E!, or Σ!) is an intergovernmental organisation for research and development funding and coordination. Eureka is an open platform for international cooperation in innovation. Organisations and companies applying th ...
and
Austin
Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the seat and largest city of Travis County, with portions extending into Hays and Williamson counties. Incorporated on December 27, 1839, it is the 11th-most-populous city ...
.
The range runs in a southwest-northeasterly direction between the
Toiyabe Range
The Toiyabe Range is a mountain range in Lander and Nye counties, Nevada, United States. Most of the range is included within the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest. The highest point in the range, near its southern end, is Arc Dome (11,788  ...
on the west across Grass Valley and the
Roberts Mountains
The Roberts Mountains are located in central Nevada in the western United States. The mountains are found in Eureka County, east of the Simpson Park Mountains and west and southwest of the Sulphur Spring Range. The range reaches a peak at Ro ...
to the east. Other ranges around the Simpson Parks include the
Cortez Mountains
The Cortez Mountains are located in north central Nevada in the United States. The range lies in a southwest-northeasterly direction between Crescent Valley and Pine Valley. Mount Tenabo is the principal peak of the range, at 9,153 feet above sea l ...
to the north across Horse Creek Valley and the
Toquima and
Monitor
Monitor or monitor may refer to:
Places
* Monitor, Alberta
* Monitor, Indiana, town in the United States
* Monitor, Kentucky
* Monitor, Oregon, unincorporated community in the United States
* Monitor, Washington
* Monitor, Logan County, West Vir ...
ranges to the south. The Monitor, Kobeh and
Antelope
The term antelope is used to refer to many species of even-toed ruminant that are indigenous to various regions in Africa and Eurasia.
Antelope comprise a wastebasket taxon defined as any of numerous Old World grazing and browsing hoofed mammals ...
valleys lie to the southeast.
[''Simpson Park Mts., Nevada,'' 30x60 Minute Quadrangle, USGS 1979][''Crescent Valley, Nevada,'' 30x60 Minute Quadrangle, USGS 1987][''Summit Mountain, Nevada,'' 30x60 Minute Quadrangle, USGS 1978]
The
Hickison Petroglyph Recreation Area
The Hickison Petroglyph Recreation Area provides public access to petroglyphs created by prehistoric people living near Hickison Summit at the north end of the Toquima Range and the south end of the Simpson Park Mountains in the U.S. state of Nev ...
lies at the southeastern end of the mountains northwest of Hickison Summit on US route 50. The
Bureau of Land Management
The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is an agency within the United States Department of the Interior responsible for administering federal lands. Headquartered in Washington DC, and with oversight over , it governs one eighth of the country's la ...
manages 98% of the Simpson Park Mountains, and 2% is privately held. Principal vegetation types are:
Piñon-
juniper
Junipers are coniferous trees and shrubs in the genus ''Juniperus'' () of the cypress family Cupressaceae. Depending on the taxonomy, between 50 and 67 species of junipers are widely distributed throughout the Northern Hemisphere, from the Arcti ...
—43.5%,
Sagebrush
Sagebrush is the common name of several woody and herbaceous species of plants in the genus ''Artemisia''. The best known sagebrush is the shrub ''Artemisia tridentata''. Sagebrushes are native to the North American west.
Following is an alph ...
scrub—25.4%, and Sagebrush
steppe
In physical geography, a steppe () is an ecoregion characterized by grassland plains without trees apart from those near rivers and lakes.
Steppe biomes may include:
* the montane grasslands and shrublands biome
* the temperate grasslands, ...
—18.5%. Trees found in the range include:
western juniper
''Juniperus occidentalis'', known as the western juniper, is a shrub or tree native to the Western United States, growing in mountains at altitudes of and rarely down to . It is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List because it is a widesp ...
(''Juniperus occidentalis''),
Utah Juniper
''Juniperus osteosperma'' (Utah juniper; syn. ''J. utahensis'') is a shrub or small tree native to the southwestern United States.
Description
The plant reaches , rarely to 9 m, tall. The shoots are fairly thick compared to most junipers, ...
(''Juniperus osteosperma''), and
Single-leaf Pinyon
''Pinus monophylla'', the single-leaf pinyon, (alternatively spelled piñon) is a pine in the pinyon pine group, native to North America. The range is in southernmost Idaho, western Utah, Arizona, southwest New Mexico, Nevada, eastern and southe ...
(''Pinus monophylla'').
Coyotes
The coyote (''Canis latrans'') is a species of canis, canine native to North America. It is smaller than its close relative, the wolf, and slightly smaller than the closely related eastern wolf and red wolf. It fills much of the same ecologica ...
and
pika
A pika ( or ; archaically spelled pica) is a small, mountain-dwelling mammal found in Asia and North America. With short limbs, very round body, an even coat of fur, and no external tail, they resemble their close relative, the rabbit, but wi ...
s roam the Simpson Park Mountains.
The range is named after
James H. Simpson
James Hervey Simpson (1813–1883) was an officer in the U.S. Army and a member of the United States Corps of Topographical Engineers.
Early years
He was born in New Brunswick, New Jersey on March 9, 1813, the son of John Simpson and Mary Bru ...
, who surveyed a
transportation route just south of the range in 1858.
References
{{reflist
* Biological Resources Research Center
* ''Nevada Atlas & Gazetteer'', 2001, pg. 38 & 46.
Mountain ranges of Nevada
Mountain ranges of Eureka County, Nevada
Mountain ranges of Lander County, Nevada