Wheeler Peak from Eagle Nest, New Mexico

Wheeler Peak is the highest natural point in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sove ...

New Mexico ) , population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano) , seat = Santa Fe, New Mexico, Santa Fe , LargestCity = Albuquerque, New Mexico, Albuquerque , LargestMetro = Albuquerque metropolitan area, Tiguex , Offi ...

. It is located northeast of

Taos Taos or TAOS may refer to: Places * Taos, Missouri, a city in Cole County, Missouri, United States * Taos County, New Mexico, United States ** Taos, New Mexico, a city, the county seat of Taos County, New Mexico *** Taos art colony, an art colo ...

and south of Red River in the northern part of the state, and just southeast of the ski slopes of Taos Ski Valley. It lies in the

Sangre de Cristo Mountains The Sangre de Cristo Mountains ( Spanish for " Blood of Christ") are the southernmost subrange of the Rocky Mountains. They are located in southern Colorado and northern New Mexico in the United States. The mountains run from Poncha Pass in South- ...

, the southernmost 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 ...

. The peak's elevation is . Formerly named Taos Peak, after the nearby town of

Taos, New Mexico Taos is a town in Taos County in the north-central region of New Mexico in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. Initially founded in 1615, it was intermittently occupied until its formal establishment in 1795 by Nuevo México Governor Fernando Ch ...

, it was renamed Wheeler Peak in 1950. A plaque at the summit states that the mountain was:

Named in honor of Major George Montague Wheeler (1832–1909) who for ten years led a party of surveyors and naturalists collecting geologic, biologic, planimetric and topographic data in New Mexico and six other southwestern states.

Nearby peaks and features

Just north of Wheeler Peak is Mount Walter. At it is the second highest named summit in New Mexico, but it is not usually considered an independent peak as it has only about of

topographic prominence In topography, prominence (also referred to as autonomous height, relative height, and shoulder drop in US English, and drop or relative height in British English) measures the height of a mountain or hill's summit relative to the lowest contou ...

. It is sometimes mistaken for Wheeler Peak, since it is along the standard route to Wheeler. Lake Fork Peak at lies just across Williams Lake and to the west of Wheeler Mountain. Taos Ski Valley lies to the northwest of Wheeler Peak, while both the town of

and

Taos Pueblo Taos Pueblo (or Pueblo de Taos) is an ancient pueblo belonging to a Taos-speaking (Tiwa) Native American tribe of Puebloan people. It lies about north of the modern city of Taos, New Mexico. The pueblos are considered to be one of the oldest ...

are about to the southwest. Wheeler Peak is the focus of the Wheeler Peak Wilderness area in the

Carson National Forest Carson National Forest is a national forest in northern New Mexico, United States. It encompasses 6,070 square kilometers (1.5 million acres) and is administered by the United States Forest Service. The Forest Service's "mixed use" policy allows ...

. Much of the mountain area just south of the peak is on

land. Some was returned to the pueblo from the

in 1970 and another in 1996.

Climbing

The standard route on Wheeler Peak is along the north ridge. The route starts at the parking lot for Taos Ski Valley, and proceeds east along an old road to a broad saddle at Bull-of-the-Woods Meadow. It then turns south and winds its way among minor peaks and small valleys to gain Wheeler Peak from the north, going over the summit of Mount Walter along the way. This is a practical route, even in winter, due to low (but nonzero)

avalanche An avalanche is a rapid flow of snow down a slope, such as a hill or mountain. Avalanches can be set off spontaneously, by such factors as increased precipitation or snowpack weakening, or by external means such as humans, animals, and ea ...

exposure. An alternate route is to hike south from Taos Ski Valley to Williams Lake, then take a newly constructed switchback trail to the top. This trail was completed in 2011 by a Forest Service trail crew from the Gallatin National Forest, 8 people working 12 hours per day, building 4 miles of new trail with hand tools to the top in 14 days. Another alternate route is to begin from the nearby ski resort of Red River. From the town of Red River drive 6.4 miles south on NM 578, then 1.3 miles on FR 58 to the trailhead parking area. From the parking area Wheeler peak is about 7 miles on Forest Trail 91. This route passes two alpine lakes, Lost Lake and Horseshoe Lake. Wheeler Peak has a

summit register A summit book or summit register is a record of visitors to the summit of a mountain. It is usually enclosed in a weatherproof, animalproof metal canister. Some books are maintained in an informal manner by an individual or small group, while ot ...

as do many major western peaks.

References

External links

* * {{Mountains of New Mexico Mountains of New Mexico Sangre de Cristo Mountains Landforms of Taos County, New Mexico Highest points of U.S. states Carson National Forest North American 4000 m summits Mountains of Taos County, New Mexico

Nearby peaks and features

Climbing

See also

References

External links