Mears Peak is a mountain summit located on the common boundary of

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" ...

with San Miguel County, in

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 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 ...

. It is situated six miles northwest of the community of Telluride, in the Mount Sneffels Wilderness, 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 ...

. It is part of the

Sneffels Range The Sneffels Range, regionally conterminous with San Juan Mountains, San Juans, is a young, prominent, and rugged range of mountains in southwestern Colorado of the San Juan Mountains. The Sneffels range form the southern border of Ouray County an ...

which is a subset 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 in turn is part 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 ...

. Mears Peak 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 ...

, and 3.8 miles west of

Mount Sneffels Mount Sneffels is the highest summit of the Sneffels Range in the Rocky Mountains of North America. The fourteener is located in the Mount Sneffels Wilderness of Uncompahgre National Forest, west by south ( bearing 256°) of the City of O ...

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 south aspect rises above the San Miguel River in approximately 5.5 miles.

History

This mountain's name and location were officially adopted in 1970 by the U.S. Board on Geographic Names to commemorate

Otto Mears Otto Mears (May 3, 1840 – June 24, 1931) was a Colorado railroad builder and entrepreneur who played a major role in the early development of southwestern Colorado. Mears was known as the "Pathfinder of the San Juans" because of his roa ...

(1840–1931). Prior to 1970, the USGS placed Mears Peak at a location one mile to the east. Otto Mears was known for his road and railroad building projects through Colorado's San Juan Mountains, which were instrumental in the early development of southwestern Colorado in the late 19th century.Williamson, Ruby G. "Otto Mears Pathfinder of the San Juan: His Family and Friends" (Gunnison, 1981). Notably, he built the

Million Dollar Highway U.S. Route 550 (US 550) is a spur of U.S. Highway 50 that runs from Bernalillo, New Mexico to Montrose, Colorado in the western United States. The section from Silverton to Ouray is frequently called the Million Dollar Highway.

. There is also a Mount Otto in Colorado named after him.

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, Mears Peak 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 long, 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 mountain drains south to the San Miguel River, and north to the

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 Dallas Creek.

Gallery

File:Mears Peak colorado.jpg, North aspect File:Mears Peak of the Sneffels range.jpg, North aspect File:Mears Peak.jpg, Northeast aspect File:Lupines and Mears Peak.jpg, Mears Peak to left, "S9" to the right File:Early October in the San Juans.jpg, Sneffels Range, Mears Peak to left File:Representativeme00newy 0165 Otto Mears.jpg, Otto Mears in 1902

References

External links

* Weather forecast
Mears Peak
* Mears Peak rock climbing
Mountainproject.com

Mears Peak photo
{{Mountains of Colorado Mountains of Ouray County, Colorado Mountains of San Miguel County, Colorado San Juan Mountains (Colorado) Four-thousanders of the United States Uncompahgre National Forest

History

Climate

Gallery

See also

References

External links