| Sangre De Cristo Range |
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According to the USGS , the range is the northern part of the larger Sangre De Cristo Mountains , which extend through northern New Mexico . Usage of the terms "Sangre de Cristo Range" and "Sangre de Cristo Mountains" is varied; however this article discusses only the mountains between Poncha Pass and La Veta Pass. ]] GEOGRAPHY Most of the range is shared by two National Forests, which abut along the range divide. Most of the northeast (Arkansas River) side is located within the San Isabel National Forest , while most of the southwest (San Luis Valley) side is included in the Rio Grande National Forest . The central part of the range is designated as the Sangre De Cristo Wilderness . The Great Sand Dunes National Park sits on the southwestern flank of the range at the edge of the San Luis Valley. The range divide is traversed by no paved roads, but only by Four Wheel Drive and foot trails over Hayden Pass , Hermit Pass , Music Pass , Medano Pass , and Mosca Pass . The highest peak in the range, located in the south, is , Crestone Peak , Crestone Needle , and Humboldt Peak . Two sub-peaks of Kit Carson Mountain, Challenger Point and Columbia Point , are named in memory of the crews of the Space Shuttle Challenger and the Space Shuttle Columbia . The range is also home to many high peaks in the 13,000 to 14,000 foot range. See the Sangre De Cristo Mountains article for other noteworthy summits in the greater range. HISTORY AND ECONOMY In 1719 the Spanish explorer Antonio Valverde Y Cosio named the Sangre de Cristo ("Blood of Christ") mountains after being impressed by the reddish hue of the snowy peaks at sunrise. Today tourism and mining are the main economic activities. GEOLOGY The Sangre de Cristos are Fault-block Mountain s with major Fault lines running along both the east and west sides of the mountains and, in places, cutting through the range. The mountains were pushed up about 27 million years ago, pretty much as one large mass of rock. On the west side is the San Luis Valley with the Rio Grande Rift running down the middle. On the southeast side is the Raton Basin , a quiet but still active Volcanic Field . On the northeast side are the Wet Mountains and the Front Range , areas of Precambrian Igneous and Metamorphic rocks formed during the Colorado Orogeny some 1.7 billion years ago and then uplifted more recently during the Laramide Orogeny . The Blanca Massif is also Precambrian rock, while most of the rest of the Sangres is composed of younger Permian - Pennsylvanian (about 250-million-year old) rock, a mix of Sedimentary Conglomerates , Shale s, and igneous Intrusion s. These sedimentary rocks originated as Sediment Eroded from the Ancestral Rocky Mountains . NOTES |
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