The Lewis Range is 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 ari ...

located in the

Rocky Mountains The Rocky Mountains, also known as the Rockies, are a major mountain range and the largest mountain system in North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch in straight-line distance from the northernmost part of western Canada, to New Mexico ...

of northern

Montana Montana () is a state in the Mountain West division of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota and South Dakota to the east, Wyoming to the south, and the Canadian provinces of Alberta, British Columb ...

, United States and extreme southern

Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest T ...

, Canada. It was formed as a result of the Lewis Overthrust, a geologic thrust fault resulted in the overlying of younger

Cretaceous The Cretaceous ( ) is a geological period that lasted from about 145 to 66 million years ago (Mya). It is the third and final period of the Mesozoic Era, as well as the longest. At around 79 million years, it is the longest geological period of ...

rocks by older

Proterozoic The Proterozoic () is a geological eon spanning the time interval from 2500 to 538.8million years ago. It is the most recent part of the Precambrian "supereon". It is also the longest eon of the Earth's geologic time scale, and it is subdivided i ...

rocks. The range is located within

Waterton Lakes National Park Waterton Lakes National Park is a national park located in the southwest corner of Alberta, Canada. It borders Glacier National Park in Montana, United States. Waterton was the fourth Canadian national park, formed in 1895 and named after Waterto ...

, Canada and Glacier National Park and the

Bob Marshall Wilderness Complex The Bob Marshall Wilderness Complex consists of three wilderness areas, all within the U.S. state of Montana totalling over 1.5 million acres (6,100 km²). The largest wilderness area is the Bob Marshall Wilderness Area consisting of 1 mill ...

, United States. The highest peak is Mount Cleveland at .

Geology

Formed by the Lewis Overthrust beginning 170 million years ago, an enormous slab of

Precambrian The Precambrian (or Pre-Cambrian, sometimes abbreviated pꞒ, or Cryptozoic) is the earliest part of Earth's history, set before the current Phanerozoic Eon. The Precambrian is so named because it preceded the Cambrian, the first period of th ...

rocks 3 miles (4.8 km) thick, wide and long faulted and slid over newer rocks of the

period. In this relatively rare occurrence, older rocks are now positioned above newer ones.

Geography

The Lewis Range is within

in Canada, and in Glacier National Park and the

located in Flathead and

Lewis and Clark National Forest Lewis and Clark National Forest is located in west central Montana, United States. Spanning , the forest is managed as two separate zones. The eastern sections, under the Jefferson Division, is a mixture of grass and shrublands dotted with "islan ...

s in Montana. The

Continental Divide A continental divide is a drainage divide on a continent such that the drainage basin on one side of the divide feeds into one ocean or sea, and the basin on the other side either feeds into a different ocean or sea, or else is endorheic, not c ...

spans much of the uppermost sections of the range. Major peaks in the range include Mount Cleveland (10,466 ft/3,185 m), which is the highest peak in the range and in Glacier National Park. Other prominent peaks include

Mount Stimson Mount Stimson () is the second highest peak in Glacier National Park, located in Montana, United States. It is part of the Lewis Range, which spans much of the park. It is located in the remote southwestern portion of the park, approximately west ...

(10,142 ft/3,091 m), Mount Jackson (10,052 ft/3,064 m), Mount Siyeh (10,014 ft/3,052 m), Going to the Sun Mountain, (9,642 ft/2,939 m) and the isolated

Chief Mountain Chief Mountain ('' Blackfoot: Ninaistako'') () is located in the U.S. state of Montana on the eastern border of Glacier National Park and the Blackfeet Indian Reservation. The mountain is one of the most prominent peaks and rock formations alo ...

(9,080 ft/2,768 m). The

Chinese wall A Chinese wall or ethical wall is an information barrier protocol within an organization designed to prevent exchange of information or communication that could lead to conflicts of interest. For example, a Chinese wall may be established to sep ...

in the

Bob Marshall Wilderness The Bob Marshall Wilderness Area is a congressionally-designated wilderness area located in Western Montana region of the United States. It is named after Bob Marshall (1901–1939), an early forester in the federal government, conservationist, a ...

is a 1,000 foot (304 m) high feature that runs for . Major passes include

Marias Pass Marias Pass (elevation ) is a mountain pass in the Rocky Mountains in the western US state of Montana. Lying on the southern border of Glacier National Park, it is traversed by US Highway 2 and by the BNSF Hi-Line Subdivision. The pass is the ...

and

Logan Pass Logan Pass (elevation ) is located along the Continental Divide in Glacier National Park, in the U.S. state of Montana. It is the highest point on the Going-to-the-Sun Road. The pass is named after Major William R. Logan, the first superintenden ...

which bisects Glacier National Park east to west.

External links

* * {{Authority control Mountain ranges of Alberta Mountain ranges of Montana Landforms of Flathead County, Montana Landforms of Glacier County, Montana Glacier National Park (U.S.) Mountains of Glacier National Park (U.S.)

Geology

Geography

See also

External links