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. Much of the range is protected in the

Weminuche Wilderness The Weminuche Wilderness is a wilderness area in southwest Colorado managed by the United States Forest Service as part of the San Juan National Forest on the west side of the Continental Divide and the Rio Grande National Forest on the east side ...

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. 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 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 under ...

, and amphibolite. 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 Cit ...

, 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, 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 Vestal Peak, elevation , is a summit in the Needle Mountains of southwest Colorado. The peak is southeast of Silverton in the Weminuche Wilderness. See also *List of Colorado mountain ranges * List of Colorado mountain summits **List of Color ...

, 13,864 ft (Grenadier Range) * Turret Peak, 13,835 ft * Jagged Mountain, 13,824 ft * Arrow Peak, 13,803 ft (Grenadier Range) * Animas Mountain, 13,786 ft * Storm King Peak, 13,752 ft (Grenadier Range) * Mount Silex, 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 Gu ...

, 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 The Vallecito Mountains are located in the Colorado Desert, in eastern San Diego Cou ...

, 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