Lost Mine Peak Explained

Lost Mine Peak
Elevation Ft:7547
Elevation Ref:[1]
Prominence Ft:1460.
Isolation Mi:3.2
Isolation Ref:[2]
Parent Peak:Emory Peak (7,825 ft)
Range:Chisos Mountains
Country:United States
State:Texas
Region:Brewster
Region Type:County
Part Type:Protected area
Part:Big Bend National Park
Map:Texas#USA
Label Position:top
Coordinates:29.2756°N -103.2584°W
Coordinates Ref:[3]
Topo:USGS The Basin
Age:Oligocene
Rock:Volcanic rock (Rhyolite)[4]

Lost Mine Peak is a 7547feet summit in Brewster County, Texas, United States.

Description

Lost Mine Peak is located in Big Bend National Park and the Chisos Mountains. It ranks as the third-highest peak in the park, mountain range, and county, but only the 20th-highest in Texas.[1] [2] The mountain is composed of volcanic rock which formed during the Oligocene period.[5] Although modest in elevation, topographic relief is significant as the summit rises 2,150 feet (655 m) above Pine Canyon in 0.8miles, and 2,550 feet (777 m) above Juniper Canyon in 1.5miles. Based on the Köppen climate classification, Lost Mine Peak is located in a hot arid climate zone with hot summers and mild winters.[6] Any scant precipitation runoff from the mountain's slopes drains into the Rio Grande watershed. The lower slopes of the peak are covered by juniper, oak, and piñon. The mountain's toponym has been officially adopted by the United States Board on Geographic Names.[3] The peak's name comes from a legend of Spanish explorers finding silver here and enslaving local people to mine it. According to legend, the workers eventually rebelled, killed their enslavers, then sealed the entrance to prevent further exploitation.[7] [8] The Lost Mine Trail was built in the 1930s by the Civilian Conservation Corps and is the most scenic and popular trail within Big Bend National Park.[9] The trail covers 4.8 miles (round-trip) with 1,000 feet of elevation gain.[10]

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Lost Mine Peak - 7,547' TX. listsofjohn.com. 2024-11-02.
  2. 4328. Lost Mine Peak, Texas. 2024-11-02.
  3. 1340644. Lost Mine Peak. 2024-11-02.
  4. Grace C. Keroher, Lexicon of Geologic Names of the United States for 1961–1967, Geological Survey Bulletin 1350, 1970, p. 439–440.
  5. https://pubs.usgs.gov/sim/3140/ Geologic Map of the Chisos Mountains, Big Bend National Park, Texas
  6. Peel, M. C. . Finlayson, B. L. . McMahon, T. A. . 2007 . Updated world map of the Köppen−Geiger climate classification . Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci. . 11 . 1027-5606.
  7. https://www.nps.gov/places/lost-mine-trail-stop-26.htm Lost Mine Trail Stop #26
  8. Ron Tyler, The Big Bend: A History of the Last Texas Frontier, Texas A&M University Press, 1996,, p. 19.
  9. Peter Koch, Exploring the Big Bend Country, University of Texas Press, 2009,, p. 42.
  10. Robert Manning, Walks of a Lifetime in America's National Parks, Rowman & Littlefield, 2020,, p. 29.