Gore Range
Buffalo Mountain (left) at the southern end of the Gore Range seen from Dillon Reservoir.
Highest point
PeakMount Powell
Elevation13,566 ft (4,135 m)
ListingMountain ranges of Colorado
Coordinates39°45′36″N 106°20′27″W / 39.76000°N 106.34083°W / 39.76000; -106.34083
Dimensions
Length77 mi (124 km) N-S
Width46 mi (74 km) E-W
Area1,420 sq mi (3,700 km2)
Geography
Gore Range is located in Colorado
Gore Range
Gore Range
Gore Range
CountryUnited States
StateColorado
CountiesEagle, Summit, Grand and Routt
Parent rangeSouthern Rocky Mountains

The Gore Range (elevation approximately 12,000 ft) is a mountain range in the Rocky Mountains of north central Colorado in the United States.

Geography

The range runs for approximately 60 miles (100 km) northwest-to-southeast, through western Grand and Summit counties, and eastern Routt and Eagle counties. They form the southern extension of the Park Range, extending southward from Rabbit Ears Pass (U.S. Highway 40) to the Eagle River and Gore Creek near Vail. The Colorado River passes through the range at Gore Canyon. The range forms part of the western boundary of Middle Park at the headwaters of the Colorado, separating it from the upper basin of the Yampa River to the west. The northern section of the range north of Gore Pass is somewhat lower than the southern section, along the western side of the valley of the Blue River. The ridges of the range are prominently visible on clear days from the summit of Trail Ridge Road in Rocky Mountain National Park approximately 50 miles (80 km) to the east. The range is traversed at its southern and southwestern lower flanks by Interstate 70 from Silverthorne to Vail. Much of the range is located within the Arapaho and White River National Forests, and large portions are protected within the Eagles Nest Wilderness.

History

The range was named for Sir St George Gore, 8th Baronet, an Irish hunter who visited the area in the 1850s on a notorious hunting expedition throughout the American West. Gore's three-year stopover in the American West had him traversing what is today the Dakotas, Montana, Wyoming and Colorado. The figures are difficult to substantiate, but Gore himself claimed to have killed more than 2,000 buffalo, 1,600 elk and deer and 100 bears for sport, with the carcasses being left to rot.[1]

The Gore Range as seen from Vail, Colorado.
The Gore Range as seen from Ptarmigan Peak Trail

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Colorado's Gore Range was named after a bloodthirsty 19th century aristocrat. Is it time for a change?". Retrieved 2018-09-01.
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