View source for Front Range

{{Short description|Mountain range of the Southern Rocky Mountains of North America}}
{{Distinguish|Front Ranges|text=the Canadian [[Front Ranges]]}}
{{For-multi|the Colorado–Wyoming urban region|Front Range urban corridor|the [[Megaregions of the United States|megaregion]]|Southern Rocky Mountain Front}}
{{Infobox mountain
| name= Front Range
| photo= Indian Peaks Wilderness.jpg 
| photo_caption= Front Range Peaks in the [[Indian Peaks Wilderness]]
| country= [[United States]]
| subdivision1_type= States
| subdivision1= {{hlist|Colorado|Wyoming}}
| parent= Rocky Mountains
| highest= Grays Peak
| elevation_ft= 14278
| coordinates= {{coord|39|38|02|N|105|49|01|W|type:mountain_scale:100000|format=dms|display=inline,title}}
| geology= 
| orogeny= 
| map_image= Image Wpdms nasa topo front range.jpg
| map_size= 200
| map_caption= The Front Range (excluding the [[Laramie Mountains]]) is shown highlighted on a map of the western U.S.
}}

The '''Front Range''' is a [[mountain range]] of the Southern [[Rocky Mountains]] of North America located in the central portion of the U.S. [[Colorado|State of Colorado]], and southeastern portion of the U.S. [[Wyoming|State of Wyoming]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://geonames.usgs.gov/pls/gnispublic |title=GNIS Feature Search |access-date=2010-05-13 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://www.webcitation.org/698t1HjXe?url=http://geonames.usgs.gov/pls/gnispublic/f?p=132:1:3161899225272452 |archive-date=2012-07-14 }} |U.S. Geological Survey confirms that the Laramie Mountains(range) are the northern extent of the Front Range.</ref> It is the first mountain range encountered as one goes westbound along the [[40th parallel north]] across the [[Great Plains]] of North America.

The Front Range runs north-south between [[Casper, Wyoming]], and [[Pueblo, Colorado]], and rises nearly 10,000 feet above the Great Plains. [[Longs Peak]], [[Mount Blue Sky]], and [[Pikes Peak]] are its most prominent peaks, visible from the [[Interstate 25]] corridor. The area is a popular destination for mountain biking, hiking, climbing, and camping during the warmer months and for skiing and snowboarding during winter. Millions of years ago, the present-day Front Range was home to ancient mountain ranges, deserts, beaches, and even oceans.<ref name="ancientdenvers">{{cite book | last = Johnson | first = Kirk R. | title = Ancient Denvers | publisher = Fulcrum Publishing | year = 2006 | isbn = 978-1-55591-554-4|display-authors=etal}}</ref>

The name "Front Range" is also applied to the [[Front Range urban corridor]], the populated region of Colorado and [[Wyoming]] just east of the mountain range and extending from [[Cheyenne, Wyoming]] south to [[Pueblo, Colorado]]. This urban corridor benefits from the weather-moderating effect of the Front Range mountains, which help block prevailing storms.

==Geology==
[[Image:Ppgog.JPG|thumb|left|[[Pikes Peak]] and [[Garden of the Gods]].]]
[[Image:Fountain Valley Trail (5974714678).jpg|thumb|right|Uplifted [[Lyons Sandstone]] slabs along the eastern edge of the Front Range]]

===Pikes Peak Granite===
About 1 billion years ago, a mass of magma rose to the surface through a much older mantle, cooling to form what is now known as the [[Precambrian]] [[Pikes Peak Granite]]. Over the next 500 million years, the granite eroded with no sedimentation forming over this first uplift, resulting in a local expression of the [[Great Unconformity]]. At about 500–300 million years ago, the region began to sink and sediments began to deposit in the newly formed accommodation space. Eroded granite produced sand particles that began to form strata, layers of sediment, in the sinking basin. Sedimentation would continue to take place until about 300 million years ago.<ref name="ancientdenvers" /><ref name= WilliamsChronic2014>{{cite book|title=Roadside Geology of Colorado|last1=Williams|first1=Felicie|last2=Chronic|first2=Halka|author-link2=Halka Chronic|orig-year=1980|edition=3rd|isbn=978-0878426096|year=2014|pages=9–11, 46–49}}</ref>

===Fountain formation===
Around 300 million years ago, the sinking suddenly reversed, and the sediment-covered granite began to [[Orogeny|uplift]], giving rise to the [[Ancestral Rocky Mountains]]. Over the next 150 million years, during the uplift the mountains continued to erode and cover their flanks in their own sediment. Wind, gravity, rainwater, snow, and ice-melt supplied rivers that ultimately carved through the granite mountains and eventually led to their complete removal. The sediment from these mountains lies in the very red [[Fountain Formation]] today. [[Red Rocks Amphitheatre]] outside of Denver, Colorado, is set within the Fountain Formation.<ref name="ancientdenvers" />

===Lyons Sandstone===
At 280 million years ago, sea levels were low and present-day Colorado was part of the super-continent [[Pangaea]]. Sand deserts covered most of the area, spreading as dunes seen in the rock record, known today as the [[Lyons Sandstone]]. These dunes appear to be cross-bedded and show various [[fossil]] footprints and leaf imprints in many of the strata making up the section.<ref name="ancientdenvers" /> Uplifted beds of Lyons Sandstone are found along the Front range and form the gateway to the [[Garden of the Gods]].<ref name= WilliamsChronic2014/>

===Lykins Formation===
30 million years later, the sediment deposition was still taking place with the introduction of the [[Lykins Shale]]. This formation can be best attributed to its wavy layers of muddy [[limestone]] and signs of [[stromatolites]] that thrived in a [[tidal flat]] in present-day Colorado. 250 million years ago, the [[Ancestral Rockies]] were eroding away<ref name= WilliamsChronic2014/> while the shoreline was present during the break-up of Pangaea. This formation began right after Earth's largest extinction 251 million years ago at the [[Permian]]–[[Triassic]] Boundary. Ninety percent of the planet's marine life became extinct and a great deal on land as well.<ref name="ancientdenvers" />

===Morrison Formation===
After 100 million years of deposition, a new environment brought rise to a new formation, the sandstone [[Morrison Formation]]. The Morrison Formation contains some of the best fossils of the Late [[Jurassic]]. It is especially known for its sauropod tracks and sauropod bones, among other dinosaur fossils. As identified by the fossil record, the environment was filled with various types of vegetation such as [[fern]]s and ''[[Zamites]]''.<ref name="ancientdenvers" /> While this time period boasts many types of plants, grass had not yet evolved.<ref name="ancientdenvers" />

===Dakota Sandstone===
The [[Dakota Formation|Dakota Sandstone]], which was deposited around 100 million years ago at the opening of the [[Cretaceous]] [[Western Interior Seaway]] from the Arctic to the Tropics, shows evidence of ferns and dinosaur tracks. Sheets of ripple marks can be seen on some of the strata, confirming advancing and retreating near-shore environments.<ref name="ancientdenvers" /> These Dakota Group sandstone beds are resistant to erosion and have uplifted to form the [[Dakota Hogback]], a ridge between the mountains and the plains.<ref name= WilliamsChronic2014/>

===Benton Group / Niobrara Formation===
Over the next 35 million years, the Cretaceous seaway repeatedly widened as far as Utah and Wisconsin and narrowed to near closure.<ref>{{cite journal |author= R.J. Weimer |year= 1984 |journal= AAPG Memoir |title= Relation of unconformities, tectonics, and sea-level changes, Cretaceous of Western Interior, United States |editor= J.S. Schlee |publisher= [[American Association of Petroleum Geologists]] |issue= Memoir 36, Interregional unconformities and hydrocarbon accumulation |page= 407 |url=https://terra.rice.edu/department/faculty/morganj/ESCI536/Readings/Weimer_CretaceousSeaway.pdf |access-date= March 21, 2021 }}</ref> With no mountains present at the time, the Colorado area was in the line of the deepest channel of the seaway; but being on the [[Transcontinental Arch]], the Front Range areas was relatively shallow and was near the last land to submerge as the seaway opened. Shale and chalk were deposited over the area as [[Greenhorn Limestone|Greenhorn]] of the [[Benton Shale|Benton Group]] and the [[Niobrara Formation]]. Within these beds are found abundant marine fossils ([[ammonite]]s and skeletons of fish and such marine reptiles as [[mosasaur]]s, [[plesiosaur]]s, and extinct species of [[sea turtle]]s) along with rare dinosaur and bird remains. Today, the [[Fort Hays Limestone Member|Fort Hays Limestone]] member forms [[Flatiron (geomorphology)|flatirons]] or secondary hogbacks on the east slope of the Dakota Hogback.<ref name=Noblett2011a>{{Cite book|last= Noblett |first=J.B. |title=A Guide to the Geological History of the Pikes Peak Region, Colorado Springs (2nd ed.) |publisher=Colorado College |year=2011|location=Colorado Springs, Colorado |pages=43}} ('''Benton Group''' is in current use in this location.)</ref>

===Pierre Shale===
The non-chalky shales of the [[Pierre Shale|Pierre Formation]] formed in the final cycle of the seaway. At about 68 million years ago, the Front Range began to rise again due to the Laramide Orogeny in the western half of the state, draining from being at the bottom of a sea to land again, giving yield to another fossiliferous rock layer, the Denver Formation.<ref name="ancientdenvers" />

===Denver Formation===
[[Image:Mmtn.JPG|thumb|right|Front Range near [[Estes Park, Colorado]] ([[Mummy Mountain (Colorado)|Mummy Mountain]])]]
The [[Denver Formation]] contains fossils of dinosaurs like ''[[Tyrannosaurus|Tyrannosaurus rex]]'' and [[Triceratops]]. While the forests of vegetation, dinosaurs, and other organisms thrived, their reign would come to an end at the [[Cretaceous–Paleogene boundary]] (which was formerly known as the K-T boundary). In an instant, millions of species were obliterated by a meteor impact in Mexico's [[Yucatán Peninsula]]. While this extinction led to the demise of the dinosaurs and other organisms, some life did prevail to repopulate the earth as it recovered from this tremendous disaster. The uplifted mountains continued to constantly erode and, by 40 million years ago, the region was once again buried in material eroded from the central mountains.<ref name="ancientdenvers" />

===Castle Rock Conglomerate===
Suddenly, 37 million years ago, a great volcanic eruption took place in the [[Collegiate Range]] and covered the landscape in hot ash that instantly torched and consumed everything across the landscape. An entire lush environment was capped in a matter of minutes with 20 feet of extremely resistant rock, [[rhyolite]]. However, as seen before, life rebounds, and after a few million years mass floods cut through the rhyolite and eroded much of it as plants and animals began to recolonize the landscape. The mass flooding and erosion of the volcanic rock formed the [[Castle Rock (Colorado)|Castle Rock Conglomerate]] that can be found in the Front Range.<ref name="ancientdenvers" />

===Quaternary deposits===
Eventually, at about 10 million years ago, the Front Range began to rise up again and the resistant granite in the heart of the mountains thrust upwards and stood tall, while the weaker sediments deposited above it eroded away. As the Front Range rose, streams and recent (16,000 years ago) glaciations during the [[Quaternary]] age literally unburied the range by cutting through the weaker sediment and giving rise to the granitic peaks present today.<ref name="ancientdenvers" /> This was the last step in forming the present-day geologic sequence and history of today's Front Range.<ref name="ancientdenvers" />
{{wide image|Mountains_from_westlands.jpg|1000px|The Front Range as viewed from [[Greenwood Village, Colorado|Greenwood Village]] south of Denver, [[Mount Blue Sky]] is on the far right, in the clouds.}}

==Prominent peaks==
The Front Range includes the highest peaks along the eastern edge of the Rockies. The highest mountain peak in the Front Range is [[Grays Peak]]. Other notable mountains include [[Torreys Peak]], [[Mount Blue Sky]], [[Longs Peak]], [[Pikes Peak]], and [[Mount Bierstadt]].
[[Image:Longs peak.JPG|thumb|[[Longs Peak]]]]
[[Image:Pike's Peak4.jpg|thumb|[[Pikes Peak]]]]
[[Image:Mevans.JPG|thumb|[[Mount Blue Sky]]]]
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|+
The 20 Mountain Peaks of the Front Range With At Least 500 Meters of Topographic Prominence
![[ranking|Rank]]
![[summit (topography)|Mountain Peak]]
![[mountain range|Subrange]]
![[topographic elevation|Elevation]]
![[topographic prominence|Prominence]]
![[topographic isolation|Isolation]]
|-
|align=center|1
|[[Grays Peak]]<ref name=Grays_Peak>The [[summit (topography)|summit]] of [[Grays Peak]] is the [[elevation|highest point]] on the [[Continental Divide of North America]].</ref> [http://www.ngs.noaa.gov/cgi-bin/ds_mark.prl?PidBox=KK2036 NGS]
|Front Range
{{epi|4352|844.296|40.27|m=2|September 16, 2014}}
|-
|align=center|2
|[[Mount Blue Sky]] [http://www.ngs.noaa.gov/cgi-bin/ds_mark.prl?PidBox=KK2030 NGS]
|Front Range
{{epi|4348|843.991|15.76|m=2|September 16, 2014}}
|-
|align=center|3
|[[Longs Peak]] [http://www.ngs.noaa.gov/cgi-bin/ds_mark.prl?PidBox=LL1346 NGS]
|Front Range
{{epi|4346|896.112|70.19|m=2|September 16, 2014}}
|-
|align=center|4
|[[Pikes Peak]] [http://www.ngs.noaa.gov/cgi-bin/ds_mark.prl?PidBox=JK1242 NGS]
|[[Pikes Peak Massif]]
{{epi|4302.31|1685.544|97.82|m=2|September 16, 2014}}
|-
|align=center|5
|[[Mount Silverheels]] [http://www.ngs.noaa.gov/cgi-bin/ds_mark.prl?PidBox=KL0629 NGS] {{pid|5681}}
|Front Range
{{epi|4215|695.858|8.82|m=2|September 16, 2014}}
|-
|align=center|6
|Bald Mountain<ref name=NGVD29>The elevation of this summit has been converted from the [[National Geodetic Vertical Datum of 1929]] (NGVD 29) to the [[North American Vertical Datum of 1988]] (NAVD 88). [http://www.ngs.noaa.gov/faq.shtml#WhatVD29VD88 National Geodetic Survey] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111019024226/https://www.ngs.noaa.gov/faq.shtml |date=2011-10-19 }}</ref> {{pid|16675}}
|Front Range
{{epi|4172.805|639.775|12.09|m=2|September 16, 2014}}
|-
|align=center|7
|[[Bard Peak]]<ref name=NGVD29/> {{pid|16639}}
|Front Range
{{epi|4159.484|518.465|8.74|m=2|September 16, 2014}}
|-
|align=center|8
|[[Hagues Peak]] [http://www.ngs.noaa.gov/cgi-bin/ds_mark.prl?PidBox=LL1350 NGS] {{pid|5590}}
|[[Mummy Range]]
{{epi|4137|737.616|25.62|m=2|September 16, 2014}}
|-
|align=center|9
|[[North Arapaho Peak]]<ref name=NGVD29/> {{pid|5646}}
|[[Indian Peaks]] {{rid|146316}}
{{epi|4117.172|507.492|24.78|m=2|September 16, 2014}}
|-
|align=center|10
|[[Parry Peak]]<ref name=NGVD29/>
|Front Range
{{epi|4083.34|527.609|15.22|m=2|September 16, 2014}}
|-
|align=center|11
|[[Mount Richthofen]]<ref name=NGVD29/> {{pid|5577}}
|Front Range
{{epi|3945.77|816.864|15.54|m=2|September 16, 2014}}
|-
|align=center|12
|[[Specimen Mountain]]<ref name=NGVD29/> {{pid|5586}}
|Front Range
{{epi|3808.261|527.609|7.82|m=2|September 16, 2014}}
|-
|align=center|13
|[[Bison Peak]] [http://www.ngs.noaa.gov/cgi-bin/ds_mark.prl?PidBox=KK1966 NGS] {{pid|5683}}
|[[Tarryall Mountains]] {{rid|146327}}
{{epi|3789.4|747.065|30.80|m=2|September 16, 2014}}
|-
|align=center|14
|[[Waugh Mountain]]<ref name=NGVD29/> {{pid|16613}}
|South Park Hills {{rid|14633}}
{{epi|3570.91|710.184|32.22|m=2|September 16, 2014}}
|-
|align=center|15
|[[Black Mountain (Park County, Colorado)|Black Mountain]] [http://www.ngs.noaa.gov/cgi-bin/ds_mark.prl?PidBox=JK1313 NGS] {{pid|16616}}
|South Park Hills {{rid|14633}}
{{epi|3550.5|680.923|12.92|m=2|September 16, 2014}}
|-
|align=center|16
|[[Williams Peak (Colorado)|Williams Peak]] [http://www.ngs.noaa.gov/cgi-bin/ds_mark.prl?PidBox=KL0783 NGS] {{pid|16676}}
|[[South Williams Fork Mountains]] {{rid|146320}}
{{epi|3541.8|624.535|17.37|m=2|September 16, 2014}}
|-
|align=center|17
|Puma Peak<ref name=NGVD29/> {{pid|16603}}
|South Park Hills {{rid|14633}}
{{epi|3528.049|688.848|11.97|m=2|September 16, 2014}}
|-
|align=center|18
|[[Thirtynine Mile Mountain]]<ref name=NGVD29/> {{pid|16621}}
|South Park Hills {{rid|14633}}
{{epi|3521.414|636.422|17.08|m=2|September 16, 2014}}
|-
|align=center|19
|[[Twin Sisters Peaks]]<ref name=NGVD29/> {{pid|5638}}
|Front Range
{{epi|3484.642|709.574|7.01|m=2|September 16, 2014}}
|-
|align=center|20
|[[South Bald Mountain]] [http://www.ngs.noaa.gov/cgi-bin/ds_mark.prl?PidBox=LL1377]
|[[Laramie Mountains]]
{{epi|3355|562|21.99|m=2|September 16, 2014}}
|-
|}

== Travel ==
The main interstate highways that run through the Front Range are [[Interstate 70]], which crosses west of Denver, Colorado, and [[Interstate 80]], which crosses near Laramie, Wyoming. [[U.S. Route 34]] travels through the mountains near [[Loveland, Colorado]], although this route is typically closed from October to May.<ref>{{cite web |title=Road Status Report - Rocky Mountain National Park (U.S. National Park Service) |url=https://www.nps.gov/romo/planyourvisit/road_status.htm#trr |website=www.nps.gov |access-date=8 January 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190208103138/https://www.nps.gov/romo/planyourvisit/road_status.htm |archive-date=8 February 2019 |language=en}}</ref> [[U.S. Route 24 in Colorado|U.S. Route 24]] travels through the southern Front Range west of [[Colorado Springs, Colorado|Colorado Springs]], eventually connecting with I-70 west of [[Vail, Colorado]].

Along with the roads that run through the Front Range, the [[Union Pacific Railroad]] operates two rail lines through the mountains. The first [[Overland Route (Union Pacific Railroad)|Overland Route]], transiting southern Wyoming, runs parallel to I-80 for much of its way. The second is the former [[Denver & Rio Grande Western Railroad]] Moffat Route, which runs parallel to the Colorado River and through the 6.5-mile-long [[Moffat Tunnel]]. Originally the [[Denver and Salt Lake Railway]], the former Rio Grande is used for freight by both Union Pacific and [[BNSF]], and it is also used by [[Amtrak]]'s ''[[California Zephyr]]'' and ''[[Winter Park Express]]''.

==See also==
{{Portal|Geography|North America|<!-- Northern America -->|United States|Colorado|Mountains}}
* [[Eldorado Canyon State Park]]
* [[Flatirons]]
* [[Front Range Urban Corridor]]
* [[Garden of the Gods]]
* [[Mountain ranges of Colorado]]
* [[Palmer Divide]]
* [[Red Rocks Park]]
* [[Rocky Mountain Front]]
* [[Roxborough State Park]]
{{Clear}}

==References==
{{Reflist|2}}

==Further reading==
* Fishman, N.S. et al. (2005). ''Principal areas of oil, natural gas, and coal production in the northern part of the Front Range, Colorado''. Geologic Investigations Series I-2750-B. Reston, Virginia: U.S. Department of the Interior, U.S. Geological Survey.
* Sprague, L.A., R.E. Zuellig, and J.A. Dupree. (2006). ''Effects of urban development on stream ecosystems along the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains, Colorado and Wyoming''. USGS Fact Sheet 2006-3083. Reston, Virginia: U.S. Department of the Interior, U.S. Geological Survey.

==External links==
{{Wikivoyage|Front Range}}
* {{cite peakbagger |rid=1463 |name=Front Range}}

{{Mountains of Colorado}}
{{Colorado}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Mountain ranges of Colorado]]
[[Category:Ranges of the Rocky Mountains]]