Mount Ridgway is a 13,468-foot-elevation (4,105 meter) mountain summit located in Ouray County of southwest Colorado, United States.[3] It is situated five miles west of the community of Ouray, on land managed by Uncompahgre National Forest. It is part of the Sneffels Range which is a subset of the San Juan Mountains, which in turn is part of the Rocky Mountains. It is west of the Continental Divide, 2.2 miles east-northeast of Mount Sneffels, and 0.95 miles southwest of Whitehouse Mountain, which is the nearest higher neighbor.[1] Topographic relief is significant as the west aspect rises 3,000 feet (914 meters) above Blaine Basin in one mile.
Mount Ridgway | |
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![]() North aspect | |
Highest point | |
Elevation | 13,468 ft (4,105 m)[1] |
Prominence | 428 ft (130 m)[1] |
Parent peak | Whitehouse Mountain (13,492 ft)[2] |
Isolation | 0.94 mi (1.51 km)[2] |
Coordinates | 38°00′49″N 107°45′11″W[3] |
Naming | |
Etymology | Robert M. Ridgway |
Geography | |
![]() ![]() Mount Ridgway Location in Colorado Show map of Colorado![]() ![]() Mount Ridgway Mount Ridgway (the United States) Show map of the United States | |
Location | Ouray County Colorado, US |
Parent range | Rocky Mountains San Juan Mountains Sneffels Range[1] |
Topo map | USGS Mount Sneffels |
Geology | |
Type of rock | Extrusive rock |
Climbing | |
Easiest route | class 2 hiking[2] |
This mountain, the nearby town of Ridgway, the Ridgway Dam, and Ridgway State Park trace their names to Denver & Rio Grande Railroad superintendent Robert Matthew Ridgway (1834–1908), who established the town in 1891.[4][5] The mountain's name has been officially adopted by the United States Board on Geographic Names.[3]
According to the Köppen climate classification system, Mount Ridgway is located in an alpine subarctic climate zone with long, cold, snowy winters, and cool to warm summers.[6] 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 into tributaries of the Uncompahgre River.