The Needle Mountains are a subrange of the

San Juan Mountains The San Juan Mountains is a high and rugged mountain range in the Rocky Mountains in southwestern Colorado and northwestern New Mexico. The area is highly mineralized (the Colorado Mineral Belt) and figured in the gold and silver mining industry ...

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 ...

located in the southwestern part of the U.S.

State of 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 the ...

. Much of the range is protected in the Weminuche Wilderness of the

San Juan National Forest The San Juan National Forest is a U.S. National Forest covering over 1,878,846 acres (2,935.7 sq mi, or 7,603.42 km²) in western Colorado. The forest occupies land in Archuleta, Conejos, Dolores, Hinsdale, La Plata, Mineral, Montezu ...

. The range is notable for having some of the most rugged mountains in the state, and includes many technical climbs and

scrambles ''Scrambles'' is the fifth studio album by Bomb the Music Industry!, released digitally and physically on February 15th, 2009. The album was released a year and a half after Get Warmer, making it the longest gap between the release of two chrono ...

. A small but dramatic east–west subrange in the northern section is known as the Grenadier Range.

Geology

Unlike the rest of the San Juan Mountains, which are volcanic in origin, the Needle Mountains (along with the Grenadier Range) are a mass of uplifted

Precambrian The Precambrian (or Pre-Cambrian, sometimes abbreviated pꞒ, or Cryptozoic) is the earliest part of Earth's history, set before the current Phanerozoic Eon. The Precambrian is so named because it preceded the Cambrian, the first period of th ...

rocks. They consist chiefly of

quartzite Quartzite is a hard, non- foliated metamorphic rock which was originally pure quartz sandstone.Essentials of Geology, 3rd Edition, Stephen Marshak, p 182 Sandstone is converted into quartzite through heating and pressure usually related to tec ...

granite Granite () is a coarse-grained ( phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies un ...

, and

amphibolite Amphibolite () is a metamorphic rock that contains amphibole, especially hornblende and actinolite, as well as plagioclase feldspar, but with little or no quartz. It is typically dark-colored and dense, with a weakly foliated or schistose (flak ...

. The mountains are referred to as the Needle Mountains Uplift.

Notable peaks

Mount Eolus Mount Eolus is a high mountain summit of the Needle Mountains range of the Rocky Mountains of North America. The fourteener is located in the Weminuche Wilderness of San Juan National Forest, northeast by north ( bearing 29°) of the City of ...

, 14,089 ft *

Windom Peak Windom Peak is the highest summit of the Needle Mountains range of the Rocky Mountains of North America. The prominent fourteener is located in the Weminuche Wilderness of San Juan National Forest, northeast by north ( bearing 32°) of the ...

, 14,082 ft *

Sunlight Peak Sunlight Peak is a high mountain summit of the Needle Mountains range of the Rocky Mountains of North America. The fourteener is located in the Weminuche Wilderness of San Juan National Forest, northeast by north ( bearing 32°) of the City ...

, 14,059 ft *

Pigeon Peak Pigeon Peak, elevation , is a summit in the Needle Mountains, a subrange of the San Juan Mountains in the southwestern part of the US State of Colorado. It rises dramatically on the east side of the Animas River, west of the fourteener Mount ...

, 13,972 ft * Vestal Peak, 13,864 ft (Grenadier Range) * Turret Peak, 13,835 ft * Jagged Mountain, 13,824 ft *

Arrow Peak Arrow Peak is a high mountain summit in the Grenadier Range of the Rocky Mountains of North America. The thirteener is located in the Weminuche Wilderness of San Juan National Forest, south-southeast ( bearing 160°) of the Town of Silvert ...

, 13,803 ft (Grenadier Range) * Animas Mountain, 13,786 ft *

Storm King Peak A storm is any disturbed state of the natural environment or the atmosphere of an astronomical body. It may be marked by significant disruptions to normal conditions such as strong wind, tornadoes, hail, thunder and lightning (a thunderst ...

, 13,752 ft (Grenadier Range) *

Mount Silex Mount is often used as part of the name of specific mountains, e.g. Mount Everest. Mount or Mounts may also refer to: Places * Mount, Cornwall, a village in Warleggan parish, England * Mount, Perranzabuloe, a hamlet in Perranzabuloe parish, ...

, 13,628 ft *

The Guardian (Colorado) ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers '' The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the ...

, 13,617 ft *

Leviathan Peak Leviathan (; he, לִוְיָתָן, ) is a sea serpent noted in theology and mythology. It is referenced in several books of the Hebrew Bible, including Psalms, the Book of Job, the Book of Isaiah, the Book of Amos, and, according to som ...

, 13,528 ft *

Vallecito Mountain Vallecito may refer to: Places ;In the United States * Vallecito, California, in Calaveras County * Vallecito, San Diego County, California * Vallecito Mountains, San Diego County, California * Vallecito, Colorado * Vallecito Dam, Colorado ;Elsew ...

, 13,428 ft * Mount Garfield, 13,074 ft

References

{{Authority control San Juan Mountains (Colorado) Mountain ranges of Colorado Ranges of the Rocky Mountains Landforms of La Plata County, Colorado Landforms of San Juan County, Colorado San Juan National Forest