Bitterroot Range

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Bitterroot Range
Bitterroot Range
Location: Idaho Montana USA
Nearest city: Missoula, MT
Coordinates: 46°00′00″N, 114°30′00″W
Governing body: U.S. Forest Service

The Bitterroot Range (a subrange of the Rocky Mountains) runs along the border of Montana and Idaho in the northwestern United States.

The Bitterroot Range runs from the Cabinet River Gorge (near Sandpoint, ID) to Monida Pass, and INCLUDES the following "mountains": The Couer D'Alene Mountains The Bitterroot Mountains The Beaverhead Mountains


{The following is a description of the Bitterroot MOUNTAINS, not the Bitterroot RANGE.}

To the north is Lolo Creek, and to the south is the Salmon River, a span of over 100 miles (160 km). To the east is the Bitterroot Valley and the Bitterroot River, and to the west are the Selway and Lochsa rivers. Its highest summit is Trapper Peak, at 10,157 feet (3096 m).

The range is named after the bitterroot, a small pink flower that is the state flower of Montana.

In 1805, the Corps of Discovery, led by Meriwether Lewis and William Clark, crossed the Bitterroot Range, first entering the Bitterroot Valley from the south via Lost Trail Pass, and then exiting to the west via Lolo Pass.


Part of the Bitterroot Range in Montana, looking north from El Capitan peak
Enlarge
Part of the Bitterroot Range in Montana, looking north from El Capitan peak


A virtual aerial image, looking northwest across all of the Bitterroot Range and the Bitterroot Valley, can be viewed at this external link.