Everything about The Beartooth Mountains totally explained
The
Beartooth Mountains are located in south central
Montana,
U.S. and are part of the 900,000 acre (3,600 km²)
Absaroka-Beartooth Wilderness, within
Custer and
Gallatin National Forests. The Beartooths are home to the largest contiguous land area in the U.S. of over 10,000 feet (3,048 m), and is the location of
Granite Peak, which at 12,799 feet (3,901 m) is the highest point in the state of Montana. The mountains are just north of
Yellowstone National Park and are part of the
Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. The mountains are traversed by road via the
Beartooth Highway (U.S. 212) with the highest elevation at
Beartooth Pass (10,974 ft, 3,345 m). The name of the mountain range is attributed to a rugged peak found in the range, Beartooth Peak, that has the appearance of a bear's tooth.
The remoteness of the region contributed to their obscurity until the
1870s. The
Crow tribe of
Native Americans utilized the valleys of the mountains for hunting game animals and for winter shelter from the harsh winds of the plains. Though trappers entered the region in the
1830s, formal exploration by the
U.S. Government didn't occur until
1878. Since then, almost 400 species of plants have been discovered and the Beartooths are considered to be the most biologically unique mountain range in
North America. The region is also one of the few remaining with sizable populations of
Grizzly bears outside of
Alaska and
Canada.
Black bears,
mountain goats,
bighorn sheep,
elk,
moose,
wolverine,
mountain lion and
lynx are also found here.
Since
2000 the
wolf has also reappeared in the region, probably migrating out of
Yellowstone National Park. Primarily plants and grasses exist above the 9,000 foot (2,700 m)
timberline and
spruce,
fir,
whitebark pine and
lodgepole pine are found below.
The Beartooth mountains are composed of
Precambrian granite and crystalline
metamorphic rocks dated at approximately 4 billion years old, making these rocks some of the oldest on Earth. The mountains are also the location of the largest known deposits of
platinum and
chromium and the second largest deposits of
nickel found in the U.S. Huge expansive plateaus are found at altitudes in excess of 10,000 feet (3048 m) with over 25 peaks exceeding 12,000 feet (3,658 m). The mountains have over 300 pristine lakes and some waterfalls in excess of 300 feet (91 m). The highest alpine areas are easily subject to resource damage due to human encroachment which can take decades or more to recover, due to the short 6 to 12 week growing season. Winters are severe with heavy snow and incessant winds. Approximately 25 small
glaciers exist in the Beartooths with
Grasshopper Glacier being one of the more distinctive.
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