Wheeler Mountain is a

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 ...

in Summit County,

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.

Description

Wheeler Mountain is set on 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 ...

west-northwest of Hoosier Pass. It is part of the Mosquito Range which is a subrange 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 ...

. It ranks as the 150th-highest peak in Colorado. The summit is in Summit County, however the southwest and southeast slopes lie within Lake and Park counties, respectively. The mountain is located south-southwest of the community of Breckenridge on land managed by Arapaho National Forest and

Pike National Forest The Pike National Forest is located in the Front Range of Colorado, United States, west of Colorado Springs including Pikes Peak. The forest encompasses 1,106,604 acres (4,478 km2) within Clear Creek, Teller, Park, Jefferson, Douglas and E ...

. Precipitation runoff from the mountain's west slope drains into Clinton Creek; the southeast slope drains into Wheeler Lake thence to the Middle Fork South Platte River; and the northeast slope drains to the Blue River via Monte Cristo Creek. Topographic relief is significant as the summit rises above Clinton Creek in one-half mile (0.80 km). The mountain's toponym has been officially adopted by the United States Board on Geographic Names.

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, Wheeler Mountain 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.

References

{{Mountains of Colorado Mountains of Colorado Mountains of Park County, Colorado Mountains of Lake County, Colorado Mountains of Summit County, Colorado Pike National Forest Arapaho National Forest North American 4000 m summits Great Divide of North America

Description

Climate

See also

References