Front Range facts for kids

Kids Encyclopedia Facts

For the Colorado–Wyoming urban region, see Front Range urban corridor. For the megaregion, see Southern Rocky Mountain Front.

Quick facts for kids Front Range
Front Range Peaks in the Indian Peaks Wilderness
Highest point
Peak	Grays Peak
Elevation	14,278 ft (4,352 m)
Geography
The Front Range (excluding the Laramie Mountains) is shown highlighted on a map of the western U.S.
Country	United States
Parent range	Rocky Mountains

The Front Range is a magnificent chain of mountains in the Rocky Mountains of North America. It stretches across central Colorado and southeastern Wyoming in the United States. Imagine traveling west from the flat Great Plains; the Front Range is the very first mountain range you'll see!

This impressive mountain range runs from north to south, connecting Casper, Wyoming, to Pueblo, Colorado. Its peaks soar almost 10,000 feet (about 3,000 meters) above the plains below. Famous peaks like Longs Peak, Mount Blue Sky, and Pikes Peak are easily spotted from the nearby Interstate 25 highway. The Front Range is a fantastic place for outdoor adventures! People love to go mountain biking, hiking, climbing, and camping there in warm weather. When winter arrives, it becomes a popular spot for skiing and snowboarding. Millions of years ago, this area looked very different, with ancient mountains, vast deserts, sandy beaches, and even deep oceans!

The name "Front Range" also refers to the busy Front Range urban corridor. This is the area with many towns and cities located just east of the mountains, stretching from Cheyenne, Wyoming, down to Pueblo, Colorado. The mountains act like a natural shield, protecting these cities from harsh storms and making the weather a bit milder.

The Amazing Story of the Front Range Rocks
Tallest Peaks of the Front Range
Exploring the Front Range: Roads and Rails
- Major Highways
- Railroad Adventures
See also

The Amazing Story of the Front Range Rocks

The Front Range mountains have a long and exciting history, written in their rocks! Over millions of years, this area has changed dramatically, from ancient oceans to towering peaks.

Ancient Granite: The Foundation

Pikes Peak and Garden of the Gods

About a billion years ago, deep inside the Earth, hot melted rock called magma pushed its way up. It slowly cooled and hardened to form a very strong rock called Precambrian Pikes Peak Granite. For the next 500 million years, this granite was exposed to the elements, slowly wearing down.

The Fountain Formation: Red Rocks and Ancient Mountains

Uplifted Lyons Sandstone slabs along the eastern edge of the Front Range

Around 300 million years ago, the land began to rise, creating huge mountains known as the Ancestral Rocky Mountains. As these mountains slowly wore down over 150 million years, their eroded pieces formed thick layers of red sediment. Today, you can see these beautiful red rocks in places like Red Rocks Amphitheatre near Denver, Colorado.

Lyons Sandstone: Deserts of the Past

About 280 million years ago, the world was very different. Colorado was part of a giant continent called Pangaea, and huge sand deserts covered much of the area. These ancient sand dunes left their mark in the rock layers we now call the Lyons Sandstone. If you look closely, you can sometimes find fossil footprints and leaf prints in these rocks! Uplifted sections of Lyons Sandstone create the stunning entrance to the Garden of the Gods.

Lykins Formation: Tidal Flats and Changing Seas

Around 30 million years after the deserts, the landscape changed again. The Lykins Shale formed in shallow, muddy waters, like a tidal flat. You can even find signs of ancient tiny organisms called stromatolites in these wavy rock layers. This time was also marked by a huge event about 251 million years ago, when many types of plants and animals disappeared from Earth, making way for new life to evolve.

Morrison Formation: Home of Dinosaurs

After another 100 million years, a new environment emerged, creating the Morrison Formation. This rock layer is famous for its incredible dinosaur fossils from the Late Jurassic period! Scientists have found bones and tracks of huge plant-eating dinosaurs called sauropods, along with many other dinosaur fossils. Back then, the land was covered with ferns and other ancient plants, but no grass yet!

Dakota Sandstone: A Seaway's Edge

About 100 million years ago, a giant inland sea, called the Cretaceous Western Interior Seaway, began to spread across North America. The Dakota Sandstone formed along the edges of this sea. It holds clues like fern fossils and dinosaur tracks, showing us what the shoreline was like. These tough sandstone layers now form a ridge called the Dakota Hogback, separating the mountains from the plains.

Benton Group and Niobrara Formation: Deep Sea Life

For the next 35 million years, the great seaway grew and shrank many times. The Front Range area was under relatively shallow water, and layers of shale and chalk were deposited. These layers, like the Benton Shale and Niobrara Formation, are packed with amazing marine fossils! You can find ammonites (ancient shelled creatures), fish skeletons, and even huge marine reptiles like mosasaurs and plesiosaurs.

Pierre Shale: The Seaway's End

As the seaway began its final retreat, non-chalky shales of the Pierre Shale formed. Around 68 million years ago, the Front Range started to rise again due to powerful forces deep within the Earth. The land slowly emerged from beneath the sea, leading to the formation of another fossil-rich rock layer: the Denver Formation.

Denver Formation: The Last Dinosaurs

Front Range near Estes Park, Colorado (Mummy Mountain)

The Denver Formation contains fossils of famous dinosaurs like Tyrannosaurus rex and Triceratops. These amazing creatures lived in lush forests. However, their time came to an end about 66 million years ago when a giant meteor struck Earth. This event caused massive changes, leading to the disappearance of dinosaurs and many other species. But life always finds a way, and new plants and animals eventually repopulated the planet. The rising mountains continued to erode, and by 40 million years ago, the region was once again covered in eroded material.

Castle Rock Conglomerate: Volcanic Fury and Floods

About 37 million years ago, a massive volcanic eruption shook the land. Hot ash covered everything, creating a thick layer of tough rock called rhyolite. But after a few million years, huge floods carved through this volcanic rock, and life began to return. These floods and the erosion of the volcanic rock created the Castle Rock Conglomerate that you can find in the Front Range today.

The Modern Front Range: Rising Tall

Finally, about 10 million years ago, the Front Range began its most recent rise. The strong granite at the heart of the mountains pushed upwards, while the softer rocks above it wore away. Rivers and glaciers during the Quaternary Ice Age (about 16,000 years ago) helped carve out the stunning granite peaks we see today. This was the last big step in shaping the beautiful Front Range mountains.

The Front Range as viewed from Greenwood Village south of Denver, Mount Blue Sky is on the far right, in the clouds.

Tallest Peaks of the Front Range

The Front Range is home to some of the highest mountains on the eastern side of the Rocky Mountains. The very tallest peak in the Front Range is Grays Peak. Other well-known mountains that stand out include Torreys Peak, Mount Blue Sky, Longs Peak, Pikes Peak, and Mount Bierstadt.

Longs Peak

Pikes Peak

Mount Blue Sky

Here's a list of the 20 tallest peaks in the Front Range that rise significantly above the surrounding land:

The 20 Mountain Peaks of the Front Range With At Least 500 Meters of Topographic Prominence
Rank	Mountain Peak	Subrange	Elevation	Prominence	Isolation
1	Grays Peak NGS	Front Range	&1000000000000435200000014,278 ft 4352 m	&100000000000008442960002,770 ft 844 m	&1000000000004027000000025.0 mi 40.3 km
2	Mount Blue Sky NGS	Front Range	&1000000000000434800000014,265 ft 4348 m	&100000000000008439909992,769 ft 844 m	&100000000000157600000009.79 mi 15.76 km
3	Longs Peak NGS	Front Range	&1000000000000434600000014,259 ft 4346 m	&100000000000008961119992,940 ft 896 m	&1000000000007019000000043.6 mi 70.2 km
4	Pikes Peak NGS	Pikes Peak Massif	&1000000000000430231000014,115 ft 4302 m	&100000000000016855440005,530 ft 1686 m	&1000000000009782000000060.8 mi 97.8 km
5	Mount Silverheels NGS PB	Front Range	&1000000000000421500000013,829 ft 4215 m	&100000000000006958579992,283 ft 696 m	&100000000000088200000005.48 mi 8.82 km
6	Bald Mountain PB	Front Range	&1000000000000417280500013,690 ft 4173 m	&100000000000006397749992,099 ft 640 m	&100000000000120900000007.51 mi 12.09 km
7	Bard Peak PB	Front Range	&1000000000000415948400013,647 ft 4159 m	&100000000000005184650001,701 ft 518 m	&100000000000087400000005.43 mi 8.74 km
8	Hagues Peak NGS PB	Mummy Range	&1000000000000413700000013,573 ft 4137 m	&100000000000007376159992,420 ft 738 m	&1000000000002562000000015.92 mi 25.6 km
9	North Arapaho Peak PB	Indian Peaks PB	&1000000000000411717199913,508 ft 4117 m	&100000000000005074920001,665 ft 507 m	&1000000000002478000000015.40 mi 24.8 km
10	Parry Peak	Front Range	&1000000000000408334000013,397 ft 4083 m	&100000000000005276090001,731 ft 528 m	&100000000000152200000009.46 mi 15.22 km
11	Mount Richthofen PB	Front Range	&1000000000000394576999912,945 ft 3946 m	&100000000000008168640002,680 ft 817 m	&100000000000155400000009.66 mi 15.54 km
12	Specimen Mountain PB	Front Range	&1000000000000380826099912,494 ft 3808 m	&100000000000005276090001,731 ft 528 m	&100000000000078200000004.86 mi 7.82 km
13	Bison Peak NGS PB	Tarryall Mountains PB	&1000000000000378940000012,432 ft 3789 m	&100000000000007470650002,451 ft 747 m	&1000000000003080000000019.14 mi 30.8 km
14	Waugh Mountain PB	South Park Hills PB	&1000000000000357090999911,716 ft 3571 m	&100000000000007101839992,330 ft 710 m	&1000000000003222000000020.0 mi 32.2 km
15	Black Mountain NGS PB	South Park Hills PB	&1000000000000355050000011,649 ft 3551 m	&100000000000006809230002,234 ft 681 m	&100000000000129200000008.03 mi 12.92 km
16	Williams Peak NGS PB	South Williams Fork Mountains PB	&1000000000000354180000011,620 ft 3542 m	&100000000000006245349992,049 ft 625 m	&1000000000001737000000010.79 mi 17.37 km
17	Puma Peak PB	South Park Hills PB	&1000000000000352804899911,575 ft 3528 m	&100000000000006888479992,260 ft 689 m	&100000000000119700000007.44 mi 11.97 km
18	Thirtynine Mile Mountain PB	South Park Hills PB	&1000000000000352141400011,553 ft 3521 m	&100000000000006364220002,088 ft 636 m	&1000000000001708000000010.61 mi 17.08 km
19	Twin Sisters Peaks PB	Front Range	&1000000000000348464199911,433 ft 3485 m	&100000000000007095739992,328 ft 710 m	&100000000000070100000004.36 mi 7.01 km
20	South Bald Mountain [1]	Laramie Mountains	&1000000000000335500000011,007 ft 3355 m	&100000000000005620000001,844 ft 562 m	&1000000000002199000000013.66 mi 22.0 km

Exploring the Front Range: Roads and Rails

Getting around and through the Front Range is an adventure in itself!

Major Highways

Two main interstate highways cross these mountains:

Interstate 70: This highway goes through the Eisenhower Tunnel west of Denver, Colorado. It continues west towards Grand Junction, Colorado, after passing Vail Pass.
Interstate 80: This highway crosses Sherman Summit near Laramie, Wyoming.

Other important routes include:

U.S. Route 34: This scenic road travels through Rocky Mountain National Park. It's usually closed from October to May due to snow. It then continues to Granby, Colorado.
U.S. Route 24: This route goes through the southern Front Range, west of Colorado Springs, Colorado. It eventually connects with I-70 after crossing the Continental Divide at Tennessee Pass.
U.S. 50: Farther south, this road crosses the divide at Monarch Pass, passing through towns like Gunnison and Montrose.
U.S. 160: This highway crosses La Veta Pass and Wolf Creek Pass, connecting Alamosa and Durango.

For traveling north to south in the Southern Rockies, you can use Interstate 25, U.S. 285, and U.S. Route 550.

Railroad Adventures

The Union Pacific Railroad operates two important train lines through the mountains:

The first, called the Overland Route, runs through southern Wyoming, often alongside I-80.
The second is the historic Moffat Route, which follows the Colorado River and goes through the amazing 6.5-mile-long Moffat Tunnel. This route is used for freight trains by Union Pacific and BNSF. It's also used by passenger trains like Rocky Mountaineer's Rockies to the Red Rocks, and Amtrak's California Zephyr and Winter Park Express. Imagine riding a train right through a mountain!