Mosquito Range

The Mosquito Range is a high mountain range in the Rocky Mountains of central Colorado in the United States. The peaks of the range form a ridge running north–south for roughly 40 mi from southern Summit County on the north end, then along the boundary between Lake and Park Counties. The ranges forms a high barrier separating the headwaters of the Arkansas River near Leadville from South Park and the headwaters of the South Platte River near Fairplay. The highest peak in the range is Mount Lincoln at an elevation of 14,286 ft. Other fourteeners in the range are Quandary Peak , Mount Bross , Mount Democrat , and Mount Sherman .

The mountains are faulted anticlines formed as part of the Sawatch Uplift during the Laramide orogeny around 65 million years ago . The mountains were originally contiguous with the higher Sawatch Range to the west, but were separated during the formation of the rift valley at the headwaters of the Arkansas River about 35 Mya. The range is primarily of granite. The eastern flank of the range along the rim of South Park is overlain by Paleozoic and Mesozoic sedimentary rocks. The northern end of the range was glaciated during Pleistocene time, forming U-shaped valleys in the canyons.

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