Glass Mountains

This article is about the series of mesas and buttes in Oklahoma. For other uses, see Glass Mountain.
Glass Mountains seen from the top of a mesa at Glass Mountains State Park (2007)
Glass Mountain, capped with massive gypsum, Major County, Oklahoma. (USGS photo by George Irving Adams, 1900)[1]

The Glass Mountains (also known as Gloss Mountains or Gloss Hills) are not actually mountains, but a series of mesas and buttes that are part of the Blaine Escarpment that extends from the Permian red beds of northwestern Oklahoma in Major County.[a] The Glass Mountains rise 150 feet (46 m) to 200 feet (61 m) above the surface of the plains, and the highest elevation in the formation is about 1,600 feet (490 m) above sea level. The Glass Mountains stretch west along U.S. Route 412 from Orienta south of the Cimarron River.[3] The name comes from the sparkling selenite crystals on the slopes and tops of the mesas.[b]

  1. ^ Adams, George Irving. 1904. Gypsum deposits in the United States. U.S. Geological Survey, Bulletin 223, 129 pp. (Plate 15-A)
  2. ^ ["http://www.okmajordev.org/gloss-mountain-state-park.html>"Major County Economic Development Corporation." Accessed February 24, 2016.
  3. ^ McPhail, Melanie L. and Richard A. Marston. Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture. "Glass Mountains." Retrieved March 5, 2015.
  4. ^ "Glass Mountains Oklahoma." Geocaching blog. Accessed February 22, 206.


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