The Great Gulf is a glacial

cirque A (; from the Latin word ') is an amphitheatre-like valley formed by glacial erosion. Alternative names for this landform are corrie (from Scottish Gaelic , meaning a pot or cauldron) and (; ). A cirque may also be a similarly shaped landform ...

, or amphitheater-like

valley head The head of the valley or, less commonly, the valley head, refers to the uppermost part of a valley.Leser (2005), p. 935. Description The head of a valley may take widely differing forms; for example, in highland regions the valley often ends i ...

formed from a glacier by erosion, located in the White Mountains of

New Hampshire New Hampshire is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec t ...

. The cirque's walls are formed, from south to north, by the mountainsides of

Mount Washington Mount Washington is the highest peak in the Northeastern United States at and the most topographically prominent mountain east of the Mississippi River. The mountain is notorious for its erratic weather. On the afternoon of April 12, 1934, ...

(6,288 ft/1917 m),

Mount Clay Mount Clay is a peak located in Thompson and Meserve's Purchase in Coos County in the Presidential Range of the White Mountains of New Hampshire. It is a rise about long and a few hundred feet tall, with summit elevation of ; it lies on the ri ...

(5,533 ft/1686 m), Mount Jefferson (5,716 ft/1742 m), Mount Adams (5,799 ft/1768 m), and

Mount Madison Mount Madison is a mountain in the Presidential Range of New Hampshire in the United States. It is named after the fourth U.S. President, James Madison. Mountains in the Presidential Range are named for U.S. presidents, with the tallest (Mount ...

(5,366 ft/1636 m). It is drained by the

West Branch West Branch may refer to: Communities * West Branch, Iowa, city in Cedar and Johnson counties * West Branch, Michigan, city in Ogemaw County * West Branch, New Brunswick, in the Local Service District of Weldford Parish * West Branch River John, i ...

of the

Peabody River The Peabody River is a river in the White Mountains of New Hampshire in the United States. It is a tributary of the Androscoggin River, which flows south and east into Maine, joining the Kennebec River near the Atlantic Ocean. The Peabody River ...

. The Great Gulf Wilderness is a protected

wilderness area Wilderness or wildlands (usually in the plural), are natural environments on Earth that have not been significantly modified by human activity or any nonurbanized land not under extensive agricultural cultivation. The term has traditionally re ...

encompassing the cirque of the Great Gulf, and is part of the

National Wilderness Preservation System The National Wilderness Preservation System (NWPS) of the United States protects federally managed wilderness areas designated for preservation in their natural condition. Activity on formally designated wilderness areas is coordinated by the Na ...

. Established in 1964, Great Gulf is New Hampshire's oldest and smallest wilderness area, comprising just .

References

*Daniell, Gene, and Smith, Steven D. ''White Mountain Guide''. 27th ed. AMC Books, 2003. .

External links

Great Gulf Wilderness
- Wilderness.net

- GORP Landforms of Coös County, New Hampshire Mount Washington (New Hampshire) Cirques of the United States Landforms of New Hampshire {{NewHampshire-geo-stub

See also

References

External links