Curecanti Needle
More photographs at the Wikimedia Commons category.
Curecanti Needle rises to 2,395 m in Colorado. Sheep Mountain stands 4,016 m to the south, 20 miles off. The nearest named place is Chipeta Falls, a waterfall 1.0 miles away. Silver Thread Colorado Scenic and Historic Byway passes 15 miles off.
The story
The Curecanti Needle is a 700-ft granite spire located on the Gunnison River in western Colorado. A notable landmark to generations of natives and pioneers, the Needle is located on the southern bank of Morrow Point Reservoir, an impoundment of the Gunnison river between Gunnison and Montrose, Colorado. Used for many years as an advertising symbol for the Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad, whose narrow-gauge railway famously ran along the northern bank of the river and passed near the Needle, the spire is today part of the Curecanti National Recreation Area, a National Park Service facility that encompasses three impoundments of the Gunnison river, including Morrow Point Reservoir.
From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Wikidata Q5194697, referenced by the OpenStreetMap record.
What the record says
- Elevation
- 2395 m
How to reach it
- 14.9 mi off the Silver Thread Colorado Scenic and Historic Byway, National
- 27.3 mi off the San Juan Skyway, National
- 29.5 mi off the Alpine Loop
Named places within 25 miles
- Deer Point: 3.3 mi
- Sapinero Point: 4.7 mi
- Oregon Point: 8.1 mi
- Pearson Point: 8.9 mi
- Willow Creek Mesa: 9.1 mi
- Cimarron State Wildlife Area: 9.7 mi
- Sapinero State Wildlife Area: 13.0 mi
- Buckhorn Lakes Park: 14.9 mi
- Crawford Recreation Area: 18.8 mi
- Crawford Town Park: 20.5 mi
- Round Corral Spring: 2.5 mi
- Cutler Spring: 10.9 mi
- Poison Spring: 11.0 mi
- Tenmile Springs: 12.3 mi
- Rock Spring: 12.3 mi
- McIntyre Gulch: 5.9 mi
- East Cimarron: 7.0 mi
- Bay of Chickens: 12.8 mi
- Old Stevens: 17.3 mi
- Beaver Creek: 20.9 mi
- Washboard Rock: 14.7 mi
- Cliff's Diner: 15.5 mi
- SK Roll: 15.5 mi
- Stue's Point: 15.5 mi
- Painted Wall: 19.3 mi
- Museum of the Mountain West: 21.7 mi
- Museum of the Mountain West: 21.8 mi
- Ute Indian Museum: 24.6 mi
- Dillon Pinnacles: 8.4 mi
- Needle Rock: 20.4 mi
- Benjamin C. Heilman Grave: 9.5 mi
- Bibliotheca Publica: 19.9 mi
- Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park: 18.8 mi
- Hartman Rocks: 24.4 mi
- Chipeta Falls: 1.0 mi
- Dutch Charlie Swim Beach: 23.3 mi
- all saints comunity garden: 24.4 mi
- mini train: 24.6 mi
- Bike path access: 24.8 mi
Other summits around it
The highest named summits within 21.0 miles of Curecanti Needle. Elevation from each summit’s own record; bearing measured between the two coordinates.
| Summit | Bearing | Elevation | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sheep Mountain | S 188° | 4,016 m | 20.2 mi |
| Middle Baldy | NE 36° | 3,872 m | 20.4 mi |
| Middle Baldy Mountain | NE 37° | 3,838 m | 19.9 mi |
| South Baldy Mountain | NE 38° | 3,775 m | 19.0 mi |
| Mount Guero | N 5° | 3,674 m | 18.8 mi |
| Sheep Mountain | N 6° | 3,616 m | 19.7 mi |
| Bald Mountain | N 1° | 3,592 m | 14.7 mi |
| Bonfisk Peak | NNE 30° | 3,523 m | 15.7 mi |
When to go
Light through the year
| Date | Sunrise | Golden hour | Sunset |
|---|---|---|---|
| March equinox | 07:14 | 18:47 | 19:22 |
| June solstice | 05:47 | 19:58 | 20:38 |
| September equinox | 06:58 | 18:33 | 19:08 |
| December solstice | 07:24 | 16:11 | 16:53 |
Local time (America/Denver).
Climate normals
Months averaging 50–80 °F: May–Sep.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Avg °F | 19 | 25 | 35 | 43 | 51 | 59 | 65 | 64 | 56 | 45 | 33 | 21 |
| Precip in | 1.1 | 0.9 | 0.9 | 1.2 | 1.3 | 0.7 | 1.4 | 1.4 | 1.8 | 1.4 | 1.0 | 1.2 |
1991–2020 U.S. Climate Normals, NOAA NCEI — Cimarron, 8 mi away.
Where this comes from
Location and category confirmed against OpenStreetMap.
OpenStreetMapWikipediaWikidataOpenStreetMap element node/3733213015
Day trips start here
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