Chimney Rock is an pillar located on the shared boundary of Hinsdale County with

Ouray County Ouray County () is a county located in the U.S. state of Colorado. As of the 2020 Census, the population was 4,874. The county seat is Ouray. Because of its rugged mountain topography, Ouray County is also known as the "Switzerland of America" ...

, in southwest

Colorado Colorado is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States. It is one of the Mountain states, sharing the Four Corners region with Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. It is also bordered by Wyoming to the north, Nebraska to the northeast, Kansas ...

, United States. It is situated 10.5 miles east of the community of Ridgway, and immediately south of Owl Creek Pass, in the

Uncompahgre Wilderness The Uncompahgre Wilderness (formerly called the Big Blue Wilderness) is a U.S. Wilderness Area in southwest Colorado comprising . Elevation in the Wilderness ranges from to , at the summit of Uncompahgre Peak. Managed by the Uncompahgre Na ...

, on land managed by

Uncompahgre National Forest Uncompahgre National Forest is a U.S. National Forest covering 955,229 acres (1,492.55 sq mi, or 3,865.68 km2) in (in descending order of land area) parts of Montrose, Mesa, San Miguel, Ouray, Gunnison, Hinsdale, San Juan, and Delta ...

. Owl Creek Pass separates Chimney Rock from

Cimarron Ridge Cimarron Ridge is a ridge in the San Juan Mountains in southwestern Colorado. The ridge runs north-south and occupies parts of Gunnison County, Colorado, Gunnison, Montrose County, Colorado, Montrose, Ouray County, Colorado, Ouray, and Hinsdale Co ...

to the north. It is part of the

San Juan Mountains The San Juan Mountains is a high and rugged mountain range in the Rocky Mountains in southwestern Colorado and northwestern New Mexico. The area is highly mineralized (the Colorado Mineral Belt) and figured in the gold and silver mining industry ...

which are a subset of 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 great-circle distance, straight-line distance from the northernmost part of Western Can ...

, and is situated west of 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 ...

. Chimney Rock is the steepest point in Colorado with an average steepness of 61.4 degrees.John Fayhee (2012), ''The Colorado Mountain Companion: A Potpourri of Useful Miscellany from the Highest Parts of the Highest State'', West Margin Press,

Topographic relief Terrain (), alternatively relief or topographical relief, is the dimension and shape of a given surface of land. In physical geography, terrain is the lay of the land. This is usually expressed in terms of the elevation, slope, and orientati ...

is significant as the east aspect rises above West Fork Cimarron River in one-half mile. Chimney Rock can be seen from Highway 550 near Ridgway. This feature's name was officially adopted by the

United States Board on Geographic Names The United States Board on Geographic Names (BGN) is a Federal government of the United States, federal body operating under the United States Secretary of the Interior. The purpose of the board is to establish and maintain uniform usage of geogr ...

in 1966, prior to that it was known as Chimney Peak. The

first ascent In mountaineering and climbing, a first ascent (abbreviated to FA in climbing guidebook, guide books), is the first successful documented climb to the top of a mountain or the top of a particular climbing route. Early 20th-century mountaineers a ...

was made in 1934 by Melvin Griffiths and Robert Ormes via the 400-foot south face, which is the only established climbing route.

Climate

According to the

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...

system, Chimney Rock is located in an alpine

subarctic climate The subarctic climate (also called subpolar climate, or boreal climate) is a continental climate with long, cold (often very cold) winters, and short, warm to cool summers. It is found on large landmasses, often away from the moderating effects of ...

zone with cold, snowy winters, and cool to warm summers. Due to its altitude, it receives precipitation all year, as snow in winter, and as thunderstorms in summer, with a dry period in late spring. Precipitation runoff from the east side of the mountain drains into tributaries of the Cimarron River, and from the west side into

Uncompahgre River The Uncompahgre River is a tributary of the Gunnison River, approximately long, in southwestern Colorado in the United States. Lake Como at in northern San Juan County, in the Uncompahgre National Forest in the northwestern San Juan Mountain ...

via Cow Creek.

Films

Chimney Rock appeared in Rooster Cogburn's climactic

shootout A shootout, also called a firefight, gunfight, or gun battle, is a confrontation in which parties armed with firearms exchange gunfire. The term can be used to describe any such fight, though it is typically used in a non-military context or to ...

of the 1969 western motion picture, '' True Grit'', starring

John Wayne Marion Robert Morrison (May 26, 1907 – June 11, 1979), known professionally as John Wayne, was an American actor. Nicknamed "Duke", he became a Pop icon, popular icon through his starring roles in films which were produced during Hollywood' ...

. It is also seen in the 1962

epic Epic commonly refers to: * Epic poetry, a long narrative poem celebrating heroic deeds and events significant to a culture or nation * Epic film, a genre of film defined by the spectacular presentation of human drama on a grandiose scale Epic(s) ...

, '' How the West Was Won'', as

Gregory Peck Eldred Gregory Peck (April 5, 1916 – June 12, 2003) was an American actor and one of the most popular film stars from the 1940s to the 1970s. In 1999, the American Film Institute named Peck the AFI's 100 Years...100 Stars, 12th-greatest male ...

tries to tow a covered wagon stuck in the mud.Jeremy Agnew, 2020, ''The Landscapes of Western Movies: A History of Filming on Location, 1900-1970'', McFarland Incorporated Publishers, , page 166.

Gallery

File:Chimney Rock Cimarron Ridge Sunset.jpg, Chimney Rock from the north, with Courthouse Mountain behind File:Chimney Rock, Courthouse Mountain.jpg, Chimney Rock (left), Courthouse Mountain (right). West aspect. File:Chimney Rock, Cimarron range.jpg File:Chimney Rock Cimarron range.jpg, Chimney Rock seen from Courthouse Trail File:CHIMNEY ROCK - NARA - 544837.jpg

References

External links

* Weather forecast
National Weather Service
* Chimney Rock and Courthouse Mountain photo
Flickr
{{Mountains of Colorado Mountains of Ouray County, Colorado Mountains of Hinsdale County, Colorado San Juan Mountains (Colorado) Three-thousanders of the United States Uncompahgre National Forest

Climate

Films

Gallery

See also

References

External links