Everything about the Big Horn Mountains totally explained
The
Big Horn Mountains are a
mountain range in northern
Wyoming and southern
Montana in the
United States, forming a northwest-trending spur from the
Rocky Mountains extending approximately 200 miles (320 km) northward on the
Great Plains. They are separated from the
Absaroka Range, which lie on the main branch of the Rockies in western Wyoming, by the
Bighorn Basin.
The Bighorn Mountains were uplifted during the
Laramide orogeny beginning approximately 70 million years ago. The Bighorn Mountains consist of over 9,000 feet of sedimentary rock strata laid down before mountain-building began: the predominantly marine and near-shore sedimentary layers range from the
Cambrian through the
Lower Cretaceous, and are often rich in
fossils. There is an
unconformity where
Silurian strata were exposed to
erosion and are missing. Following the uplift, large volumes of sediments, rich in early
Tertiary paleontological resources, were deposited in the adjoining basins.
Though many
cirques,
U-shaped valleys and
glacial lakes can be found in the mountain range, the only remaining active
glacier is the
Cloud Peak Glacier, which is on the east slope of
Cloud Peak.
The highest peaks within the Big Horns are located in Wyoming in the 1.1 million acre (4,500 km²)
Bighorn National Forest. Two peaks rise to over 13,000 feet (3,960 m) Cloud Peak (13,167 ft, 4013 m) and
Black Tooth Mountain (13,005 ft, 3964 m). There are a dozen more that rise to over 12,000 feet (3,650 m). From the east the mountains present a vertical relief of over 8,000 feet (2,450 m), rising abrutly from the plains. Overall, the Big Horns are more rounded than their sister mountain ranges to the west.
The range is the location of the headwaters of the
Little Bighorn,
Tongue, and
Powder rivers.
Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area consists of approximately 120,000 acres within the Bighorn Mountains. It includes
Bighorn Lake, a reservoir damming the
Bighorn River.
The Big Horn Mountains are home to one of the elite
ultramarathons in the nation. The
Big Horn Trail Run is held every June.
The Big Horns are a popular destination for hiking, backpacking, fly fishing and horse back riding. Trails wind through most of the national forest. The
Cloud Peak Wilderness has a network of hiking trails to remote areas and alpine lakes. Higher trails are often covered with snow except from July through August. After Labor Day, there's a good chance of high country snow storms at any time.
The three highways traversing the Big Horn Mountains are so scenic and unique that they're designated Scenic Byways by the US Forest Service and the State of Wyoming. These include
U.S. Route 14, 14A, and 16.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Big Horn Mountains'.
|
External Link Exchanges
Do you know how hard it is to get a link from a large encyclopaedia? Well we're different and will prove it. To get a link from us just add the following HTML to your site on a relevant page:
<a href="http://big_horn_mountains.totallyexplained.com">Big Horn Mountains Totally Explained</a>
Then simply click through this link from your web page. Our crawlers will verify your link, extract the title of your web page and instantly add a link back to it. If you like you can remove the words Totally Explained and embed the link in article text.
As long as your link remains in place, we'll keep our link to you right here. Please play fair - our crawlers are watching. Your site must be closely related to this one's topic. Any kind of spamming, dubious practises or removing the link will result in your link from us being dropped and, potentially, your whole site being banned. |
