Cochetopa Hills

Cochetopa Hills
Windy Peak along the Continental Divide in the Cochetopa Hills
Highest point
PeakLong Branch Baldy
Elevation11,974 ft (3,650 m)
Coordinates38°19′20″N 106°28′26″W / 38.3221025°N 106.4738221°W / 38.3221025; -106.4738221[1]
Geography
Cochetopa Hills is located in Colorado
Cochetopa Hills
Cochetopa Hills
CountryUnited States
StateColorado
CountySaguache[2]
Parent rangeSan Juan Mountains, Rocky Mountains

The Cochetopa Hills[3] are a mountain range on the Continental Divide in Saguache County, Colorado, United States. The Cochetopa Hills are a sub-range of the San Juan Mountains and are located in the Gunnison National Forest and Rio Grande National Forest. The range extends from Marshall Pass southwest 50 miles (80 km) along the winding crest of the divide to Saguache Park. The high point of the Cochetopa Hills is Long Branch Baldy at an elevation of 11,974 feet (3,650 m).[2][4][5]

The Cochetopa Hills form a notable low-elevation span along the Continental Divide in southern Colorado. The peaks in the adjacent Sawatch Range to the northeast and the San Juan Mountains to the southwest are higher with elevations over 13,000 feet (3,962 m). Within the Cochetopa Hills are Cochetopa Pass (elevation 10,067 feet (3,068 m)) and North Pass (elevation 10,135 feet (3,089 m), which were historically important routes across the divide for Native Americans. Cochetopa is the Ute word for "gate of buffaloes." Today, the Cochetopa Hills are traversed by one paved road, Colorado Highway 114, which crosses the divide at North Pass.[5][6]

  1. ^ "Long Branch Baldy". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior. Retrieved 19 March 2024.
  2. ^ a b "Cochetopa Hills". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior. Retrieved 19 March 2024.
  3. ^ Pronounced /koʊtʃɪˈtoʊpə/ ⓘ or sometimes locally /koʊtʃɪˈtoʊp/ ⓘ.
  4. ^ Ormes, Robert M. (1992). Guide to the Colorado Mountains (9 ed.). Denver, Colorado: The Colorado Mountain Club. ISBN 0-917895-38X.
  5. ^ a b Benson, Maxine (1994). 1001 Colorado Place Names. Lawrence: University Press of Kansas. ISBN 0-7006-0632-7.
  6. ^ Helmuth, Ed; Helmuth, Gloria (1994). The Passes of Colorado: An Encyclopedia of Watershed Divides. Boulder, Colorado: Pruett Publishing Company. ISBN 0-87108-841-X.