Sharkstooth Peak is a mountain
summit
A summit is a point on a surface that is higher in elevation than all points immediately adjacent to it. The topographic terms acme, apex, peak (mountain peak), and zenith are synonymous.
The term (mountain top) is generally used only for ...
in
Montezuma County, Colorado
Montezuma County is a county located in the southwest corner of the U.S. state of Colorado. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 25,849. The county seat is Cortez, Colorado, Cortez. Montezuma County contains m ...
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Description
Sharkstooth Peak is located northwest of the community of Durango
Durango, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Durango, is one of the 31 states which make up the Political divisions of Mexico, 32 Federal Entities of Mexico, situated in the northwest portion of the country. With a population of 1,832,650 ...
on land managed by San Juan National Forest
The San Juan National Forest is a U.S. National Forest covering over 1,878,846 acres (2,935.7 sq mi, or 7,603.42 km²) in western Colorado. The forest occupies land in Archuleta, Conejos, Dolores, Hinsdale, La Plata, Mineral, Montezum ...
. It is situated in the La Plata Mountains
The La Plata Mountains are a small subrange of the San Juan Mountains in the southwestern part of Colorado, United States. They are located on the border between Montezuma and La Plata counties, about northwest of Durango. Their name is Spanish ...
which are a subrange 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 ...
. Precipitation runoff from the mountain's west slope drains to the Mancos River and the other slopes drain into Bear Creek which is a tributary of the Dolores River
The Dolores River is a tributary of the Colorado River, approximately long, in the U.S. states of Colorado and Utah. The river drains a rugged and arid region of the Colorado Plateau west of the San Juan Mountains. Its name derives from the Spa ...
. 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 summit rises above Bear Creek in one mile (1.6 km). Neighbors include Centennial Peak, to the south-southwest, Lavender Peak, to the south-southwest, and Hesperus Mountain
Hesperus Mountain (Navajo: meaning "Big Mountain Sheep") is the highest summit of the La Plata Mountains range of the Rocky Mountains of North America. The prominent thirteener is located in San Juan National Forest, northeast by east ( b ...
to the southwest.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 ...
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Historical names
*Sharkstooth
*Sharkstooth Peak – 1949 [
*Sharktooth Peak
]
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, Sharkstooth Peak has an alpine climate
Alpine climate is the typical climate for elevations above the tree line, where trees fail to grow due to cold. This climate is also referred to as a mountain climate or highland climate.
Definition
There are multiple definitions of alpine cli ...
with cold, snowy winters, and cool to warm summers.
See also
*List of Colorado mountain ranges
All the major mountain ranges in the state of Colorado, United States, are considered subranges of the Southern Rocky Mountains.
As given in the table, topographic elevation is the vertical distance above the reference geoid, a mathematical mode ...
* List of Colorado mountain summits
** List of Colorado 4000 meter prominent summits
**List of the most prominent summits of Colorado
The following sortable table comprises the 100 most topographically prominent mountain peaks of the U.S. State of Colorado.
Topographic elevation is the vertical distance above the reference geoid, a mathematical model of the Earth's sea le ...
*List of Colorado county high points
This is a list of the 64 counties of the U.S. State of Colorado by their points of highest elevation. Of the 50 highest county high points in the United States, 30 are located in Colorado. The highest point in Colorado and the Rocky Mountai ...
References
External links
* Weather forecast
Sharkstooth Peak
Mountains of Montezuma County, Colorado
Three-thousanders of the United States
San Juan National Forest
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