The Independence Mountains are a

mountain range A mountain range or hill range is a series of mountains or hills arranged in a line and connected by high ground. A mountain system or mountain belt is a group of mountain ranges with similarity in form, structure, and alignment that have aris ...

in northern

Elko County Elko County is a county in the northeastern corner of Nevada, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 53,702. Its county seat is Elko. The county was established on March 5, 1869, from Lander County. Elko County is the fourth ...

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a landlocked state in the Western United States. It borders Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. Nevada is the seventh-most extensive, th ...

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. They are called Settoya in

Shoshoni The Shoshone or Shoshoni ( or ), also known by the endonym Newe, are an Indigenous people of the United States with four large cultural/linguistic divisions: * Eastern Shoshone: Wyoming * Northern Shoshone: Southern Idaho * Western Shoshone ...

. The range reaches a maximum elevation of on the summit of McAfee Peak. The range extends northward approximately from a point near Carlin to the banks of the

Owyhee River The Owyhee River is a tributary of the Snake River located in northern Nevada, southwestern Idaho and southeastern Oregon in the Western United States and its Pacific Northwest region. It is long.Owyhee Rive accessed November 3, 2019 The river' ...

. To the east is the North Fork of the Humboldt River, and to the west is the

Owyhee Desert The Owyhee Desert ecoregion, within the deserts and xeric shrublands biome, is in the Northwestern United States. The Owyhee Uplands Byway passes through the desert. Geography An arid region of canyons, volcanic rock, sagebrush and grass makes u ...

. Passing to the south is the main branch of the

Humboldt River The Humboldt River is the longest river in the northern and central part of Nevada. It extends in a general east-to-west direction from its headwaters in northern Nevada's Jarbidge Mountains, Jarbidge, Independence Mountains, Independence, and ...

, and near the northern end of the range is the

Wild Horse State Recreation Area Wild Horse State Recreation Area is a public recreation area located on the northeast shore of Wild Horse Reservoir, approximately north of Elko, Nevada, Elko, Nevada. The state park, park is a popular destination for fishing, and especially i ...

. The Owyhee River is a tributary to the

Snake Snakes are elongated limbless reptiles of the suborder Serpentes (). Cladistically squamates, snakes are ectothermic, amniote vertebrates covered in overlapping scales much like other members of the group. Many species of snakes have s ...

- Columbia system, while the Humboldt is within the

Great Basin The Great Basin () is the largest area of contiguous endorheic watersheds, those with no outlets to the ocean, in North America. It spans nearly all of Nevada, much of Utah, and portions of California, Idaho, Oregon, Wyoming, and Baja Californi ...

. From a point about seven miles north of Carlin, the range rises to Swales Mountain, at an elevation of . Dropping to an area of hills and buttes, it then rises again to Lone Mountain (Nannies Peak), at . The range then drops nearly to the level of the surrounding valleys, at a pass where State Route 226 connects to the community of

Tuscarora Tuscarora may refer to the following: First nations and Native American people and culture * Tuscarora people **'' Federal Power Commission v. Tuscarora Indian Nation'' (1960) * Tuscarora language, an Iroquoian language of the Tuscarora people * ...

. Rising sharply to the main core of the range, the crest runs through Wheeler Mountain (), Jack's Peak (), and finally to the range high point, McAfee Peak. Most of the range north of State Route 226 is included within the

Mountain City Ranger District A mountain is an elevated portion of the Earth's crust, generally with steep sides that show significant exposed bedrock. Although definitions vary, a mountain may differ from a plateau in having a limited summit area, and is usually higher t ...

of the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest.

Climate

Taylor Canyon is a

SNOTEL 300px, Data from a SNOTEL site in Elko County, Nevada SNOTEL is an automated system of snowpack and related climate sensors operated by the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) of the United States Department of Agriculture in the Weste ...

weather station situated at the southern base of Wheeler Mountain (Nevada), along the State Route 226 pass.

References

External links

* {{Authority control Mountain ranges of the Great Basin Mountain ranges of Elko County, Nevada Humboldt–Toiyabe National Forest Humboldt River Mountain ranges of Nevada