Raft River Mountains

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Raft River Mountains
A photo of the Raft River Mountains viewed from the southeast
Raft River Mountains from the southeast
Highest point
Peak Bull Mountain
Elevation 9,925 ft (3,025 m)
Coordinates 41°54′42″N 113°21′55″W / 41.9117°N 113.3654°W / 41.9117; -113.3654Coordinates: 41°54′42″N 113°21′55″W / 41.9117°N 113.3654°W / 41.9117; -113.3654
Dimensions
Length 40 mi (64 km) E/W
Width 35 mi (56 km) N/S
Area 765 sq mi (1,980 km2)
Geography
Country United States
State Utah

The Raft River Mountains are a mountain range in northern Box Elder County, Utah, United States.[1][2] The mountains are located in Raft River Division of the Minidoka Ranger District of Sawtooth National Forest. The highest point is Bull Mountain near the Dunn Benchmark at 9,925 ft (3,025 m), and the ghost town of Yost is on the north central slopes.[3][4][5] Tributaries of the Raft River drain the northern slopes of the range to the Snake River then Columbia River and Pacific Ocean, while the southern slopes drain to the Great Salt Lake.

Geography

Located in the Sawtooth National Forest,[6] the range's montane forest ecoregion is "surrounded by montane steppes and desert".[7] The range is oriented in an east-west orientation, and is a portion of the Great Basin Divide and the Basin and Range Province between the Bonneville Basin of the Great Basin (south).[7]

The Raft River Mountains are the southeast edge of the Columbia Basin (green) in the small northwest Utah portion of the Great Basin Divide. The Great Basin side (tan) of the range is in the Northern Great Salt Lake Desert Watershed (formerly of the Pleistocene Lake Bonneville).


Geology

The central mass of the range consists of Precambrian metamorphic rocks.[8] The Elba Quartzite with interlayered schist outcrops along the southern slopes of the range and in the Grouse Creek Mountains to the southwest. Cambrian quartzite outcrops in the west part of the range and in the Grouse Creek range and the Goose Creek Mountains to the west. The thinly bedded quartzites have been quarried for building stone in the area.[9]

Flora and fauna

The range's plants and animals include pines and rodents of the Northern Basin & Range ecoregion of the Columbia Plateau.[7][7]

Camping and activities

The range's Bull Flat trail leads to Bull Flat, Bull Lake, and Bull Mountain, and passes former mines (the trailhead is near a campground).[10]

Peaks

The peaks of the Raft River Mountains[11]
Mountain Peak Elevation Prominence Isolation Location
Bull Mountain !B9919852873496 9,925 ft
3025 m
!B9929652773243 3,725 ft
1135 m
!B9894245889033 24 mi
39 km
41°54′42″N 113°21′55″W / 41.9117°N 113.3654°W / 41.9117; -113.3654 (Bull Mountain)
George Peak !B9920184785567 9,601 ft
2926 m
!B9948233419220 581 ft
177 m
!B9907906601283 6.2 mi
10.0 km
41°53′21″N 113°28′59″W / 41.8893°N 113.4831°W / 41.8893; -113.4831 (George Peak)
Peak 9,335 !B9920465726962 9,335 ft
2845 m
!B9949439452957 515 ft
157 m
!B9914728564777 3.1 mi
5.1 km
41°55′47″N 113°25′16″W / 41.9296°N 113.4211°W / 41.9296; -113.4211 (Peak 9.335)
Peak 8,402 !B9921518742472 8,402 ft
2561 m
!B9948216493014 582 ft
177 m
!B9919074547361 2.0 mi
3.3 km
41°54′51″N 113°30′14″W / 41.9143°N 113.5039°W / 41.9143; -113.5039 (Peak 8,402)
Mahagony Peaks !B9921592817465 8,340 ft
2542 m
!B9950143406919 480 ft
146 m
!B9910215916853 4.9 mi
7.9 km
41°52′51″N 113°35′18″W / 41.8809°N 113.5884°W / 41.8809; -113.5884 (Mahagony Peaks)
Peak 8,220 East !B9921737723706 8,220 ft
2505 m
!B9954197374497 320 ft
98 m
!B9915859475675 2.8 mi
4.5 km
41°51′54″N 113°32′18″W / 41.8649°N 113.5384°W / 41.8649; -113.5384 (Peak 8,220 East)
Peak 8,220 West !B9921737723706 8,220 ft
2505 m
!B9954197374497 320 ft
98 m
!B9920003214205 1.9 mi
3.0 km
41°51′44″N 113°33′46″W / 41.8621°N 113.5628°W / 41.8621; -113.5628 (Peak 8,220 West)
Peak 8,140 !B9921835548022 8,140 ft
2481 m
!B9945841663000 738 ft
225 m
!B9917210639977 2.4 mi
3.9 km
41°52′21″N 113°38′09″W / 41.8724°N 113.6357°W / 41.8724; -113.6357 (Peak 8,140)
Bally Mountains High Point !B9921934298055 8,060 ft
2457 m
!B9946793342297 671 ft
205 m
!B9913378410383 3.6 mi
5.8 km
41°57′50″N 113°28′25″W / 41.9638°N 113.4737°W / 41.9638; -113.4737 (Bally Mountains High Point)
Peak 7,980 !B9922034074092 7,980 ft
2432 m
!B9951013396412 440 ft
134 m
!B9907728025109 6 mi
10 km
41°53′51″N 113°14′39″W / 41.8976°N 113.2443°W / 41.8976; -113.2443 (Peak 7,980)
Peak 7,875 !B9922166509914 7,875 ft
2400 m
!B9953710156359 336 ft
102 m
!B9915383195185 2.9 mi
4.7 km
41°52′10″N 113°21′05″W / 41.8694°N 113.3515°W / 41.8694; -113.3515 (Peak 7,875)
Crystal Peak !B9922287895248 7,780 ft
2371 m
!B9953187951277 354 ft
108 m
!B9920916128407 1.7 mi
2.7 km
41°55′08″N 113°13′40″W / 41.9188°N 113.2278°W / 41.9188; -113.2278 (Crystal Peak)
Bald Knoll !B9922675781705 7,484 ft
2281 m
!B9950268589103 474 ft
144 m
!B9915727315161 2.8 mi
4.6 km
41°51′51″N 113°16′36″W / 41.8643°N 113.2766°W / 41.8643; -113.2766 (Bald Knoll)
Black Hills High Point !B9923202493921 7,100 ft
2164 m
!B9951966349080 400 ft
122 m
!B9918892724170 2.1 mi
3.3 km
41°50′01″N 113°33′01″W / 41.8337°N 113.5503°W / 41.8337; -113.5503 (Black Hills High Point)

Gallery

References

  1. "Raft River Mountains". PeakBagger. Retrieved 2012-05-10. 
  2. "Raft River Mountains". Geographic Names Information System, U.S. Geological Survey. 
  3. "Sawtooth National Forest - Raft River Division". Geographic Names Information System, U.S. Geological Survey. 
  4. U.S. Forest Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture. "Sawtooth National Forest". Retrieved 2012-05-09. 
  5. Summitpost.org. "Bull Mtn (UT)". Retrieved 2012-05-10. 
  6. Mohlenbrock, Robert (2006). This land: a guide to western national forests. Los Angeles: University of California Press. p. 196. ISBN 0-520-23967-9. 
  7. 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 Houseman, R; Baumann, R (1997). "Zoogeographic affinities of the stoneflies (Plecoptera) of the Raft River Mountains, Utah" (pdf). Western North American Naturalist, North America, 5731 07.  ([https://ojs.lib.byu.edu/wnan/index.php/wnan/article/viewArticle/797 abstract)
  8. 2448, RAFT RIVER MOUNTAINS FAULT, Utah Geological Survey
  9. Bryce T. Tripp, The Quartzite Building Stone Industry of the Raft River and Grouse Creek, Special Study 84, Utah Geological Survey, 1994
  10. Steadman, Jeffery (2007). The Best in Tent Camping: Utah. Birmingham, AL: Menasha Ridge Press. pp. 92–94. ISBN 978-0-89732-647-6. 
  11. Staff. "Box Elder County Summits". Lists of John. Retrieved 29 May 2012. 
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