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Ute Mountain | |
---|---|
Highest point | |
Elevation | 10,093 ft (3,076 m)[1][2] |
Prominence | 2,483 ft (757 m)[3] |
Isolation | 10.75 mi (17.30 km)[4] |
Listing | Highest major summits of the US |
Coordinates | 36°56′15″N 105°41′02″W / 36.9375203°N 105.6839005°W[5] |
Naming | |
Etymology | Ute[6] |
Geography | |
Location | Rio Grande del Norte National Monument |
Country | United States of America |
State | New Mexico |
County | Taos |
Parent range | Sangre de Cristo Mountains Rocky Mountains |
Topo map | USGS Ute Mountain |
Geology | |
Age of rock | 3.9 Million years[7] |
Mountain type | volcanic cone |
Type of rock | Dacite[7] |
Volcanic arc | Taos Plateau volcanic field |
Climbing | |
Easiest route | class 2 hiking[4] |
Ute Mountain is a 10,093-foot elevation (3,076 m) summit located in Taos County, New Mexico, United States.
Ute Mountain is part of the Taos Mountains which are a subset of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains.[3] The isolated landmark is the highest point of the Cerro del Yuta Wilderness and Rio Grande del Norte National Monument which is administered by the Bureau of Land Management.[4] The remote mountain is situated 35 miles north of the town of Taos and four miles south of the New Mexico–Colorado border. Ute Mountain is a free-standing, dacitic, extinct Pliocene volcanic cone set within the Taos Plateau volcanic field.[8] Ute Mountain has a base diameter of five miles and topographic relief is significant as the summit rises 2,500 feet (760 meters) above the surrounding sagebrush-covered basalt plains.[2] The slopes of the mountain are covered with stands of pinyon pine, ponderosa pine, aspen and Douglas fir.[9] Precipitation runoff from the mountain drains to the Rio Grande which flows through a gorge along the western base of the mountain.
The mountain is also known in Spanish as "Cerro del Yuta" (Mountain of the Ute).[10] The origin of the word Ute is unknown; it is first attested as Yuta in Spanish documents. The mountain is named after the Ute people whose self-designation is Núuchi-u, meaning 'the people'.[11] The state of Utah is also named after the Ute people. This landform's toponym has been officially adopted by the United States Board on Geographic Names,[5] and has appeared in publications since at least 1875.[12]