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.
H ...
with
San Miguel County, in
Colorado,
United States.
It is situated six miles northwest of the community of
Telluride, in the
Mount Sneffels Wilderness
The Mount Sneffels Wilderness is a wilderness area in southwest Colorado managed by the Uncompahgre National Forest. It is about west of the town of Ouray. The area is named for Mt. Sneffels, which at is a prominent fourteener in the San Jua ...
, on land managed by
Uncompahgre National Forest. It is part of the
Sneffels Range
The Sneffels Range, regionally conterminous with 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 and run west to east. ...
which is a subset of the
San Juan Mountains, which in turn is part of the
Rocky Mountains. 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.
Topographic relief 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
The United States Board on Geographic Names (BGN) is a federal body operating under the United States Secretary of the Interior. The purpose of the board is to establish and maintain uniform usage of geographic names throughout the federal governm ...
to commemorate
Otto Mears
Otto Mears (May 3, 1840 – June 24, 1931) was a famous 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 hi ...
(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 system, Mears Peak is located in an alpine
subarctic climate
The subarctic climate (also called subpolar climate, or boreal climate) is a 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 an ocean, ge ...
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
Runoff, run-off or RUNOFF may refer to:
* RUNOFF, the first computer text-formatting program
* Runoff or run-off, another name for bleed, printing that lies beyond the edges to which a printed sheet is trimmed
* Runoff or run-off, a stock market ...
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 75 mi (121 km) long, in southwestern Colorado in the United States. Lake Como at 12,215 ft (3723m) in northern San Juan County, in the Uncompahgre National ...
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
See also
*
*
Hayden Peak
References
External links
* Weather forecast
Mears Peak* Mears Peak rock climbing
Mountainproject.comMears Peak photo
{{Mountains of Colorado
Mountains of Ouray County, Colorado
Mountains of San Miguel County, Colorado
San Juan Mountains (Colorado)
Mountains of Colorado
North American 4000 m summits
Uncompahgre National Forest