Monthly Archive: March 2023

Uinta Mountains Sunset – Hayden Peak – Butterfly Lake – Utah

The Uinta Mountains, a subrange of the Rocky Mountains, are the highest east-west mountain range in the United States, and the highest mountain range in the state of Utah. The highest peak, Kings Peak is 13,528 ft. Much of the rain from the east and southeast portions of the range flow into the Green River, and ultimately down the Colorado River to Mexico. Whereas water from the west and northwest portions of the range flow into the Provo, Weber and Bear Rivers. All three rivers flow into lakes, including Bear Lake, Utah Lake, and the Great Salt Lake, which is itself the end point for all three rivers, in Utah’s West Desert.

Hayden Peak and Butterfly Lake sit close to Mirror Lake, a popular recreation spot, along the Mirror Lake Highway, which passes northeast through the western Uinta’s and over Bald Mountain Pass from Kamas to the Wyoming border.

The high Uintas were extensively glaciated during the last ice age, and most of the large stream valleys on both the north and south sides of the range held long valley glaciers.