The Needle
The Needle rises to 3,007 m in Wyoming. Pilot Peak stands 3,512 m to the northeast, 9.7 miles off. The nearest named place is Cache Mountain, a peak 2.4 miles away. Beartooth Highway passes 9.5 miles off.
What the record says
- Elevation
- 3,007 m
How to reach it
- 9.5 mi off the Beartooth Highway, National
- 14.1 mi off the Chief Joseph Scenic Highway
- 25.2 mi off the Buffalo Bill Cody Scenic Byway
Overlooks nearby
- Pilot & Index · 11 mi
- Crazy Creek · 12 mi
- Pilot-Index overlook · 18 mi
- Sunlight Bridge Overlook · 29 mi
Named places within 25 miles
- Cache Mountain: 2.4 mi
- The Thunderer: 3.7 mi
- Mount Norris: 4.5 mi
- Republic Peak: 6.4 mi
- Soda Butte: 7.3 mi
- Soda Butte Creek: 6.2 mi
- Warm Creek Picnic Area: 9.6 mi
- Yellowstone River Picnic Area: 19.8 mi
- Reef Creek: 21.7 mi
- Dunraven Road Picnic Area: 24.0 mi
- Crazy Creek Falls: 12.5 mi
- Tower Fall: 18.9 mi
- Beartooth Falls: 20.2 mi
- Lost Creek Falls: 20.6 mi
- Impasse Falls: 21.6 mi
- Soda Butte Cone: 7.3 mi
- Devil's Den: 18.9 mi
- Clay Butte Lookout: 19.2 mi
- Petrified Tree: 21.6 mi
- Wahb spring: 6.2 mi
- Calcite Springs: 19.4 mi
- Overhanging Cliff: 19.0 mi
- Cathedral Cliffs: 20.6 mi
- Gallery Dan Hartman: 10.0 mi
- Erma Number 1 Mine: 10.5 mi
- Cooke City Montana Museum: 11.1 mi
- Willow Park: 11.3 mi
Other summits around it
The highest named summits within 18.2 miles of The Needle. Elevation from each summit’s own record; bearing measured between the two coordinates.
| Summit | Bearing | Elevation | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pilot Peak | NE 38° | 3,512 m | 9.7 mi |
| Mount Zimmer | NNE 17° | 3,511 m | 18.2 mi |
| Mount Fox | NNE 11° | 3,418 m | 18.0 mi |
| Pollux Peak | SSE 165° | 3,348 m | 14.2 mi |
| Notch Mountain | SSE 168° | 3,332 m | 16.6 mi |
| Abiathar Peak | N 350° | 3,331 m | 7.7 mi |
| Indian Peak | SE 130° | 3,329 m | 9.5 mi |
| Black Mountain | SE 134° | 3,309 m | 16.8 mi |
When to go
Light through the year
| Date | Sunrise | Golden hour | Sunset |
|---|---|---|---|
| March equinox | 07:24 | 18:54 | 19:33 |
| June solstice | 05:35 | 20:25 | 21:11 |
| September equinox | 07:08 | 18:41 | 19:19 |
| December solstice | 07:56 | 15:54 | 16:42 |
Local time (America/Denver).
Climate normals
Months averaging 50–80 °F: Jul–Aug.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Avg °F | 15 | 18 | 25 | 32 | 41 | 49 | 56 | 54 | 47 | 36 | 22 | 14 |
| Precip in | 2.2 | 2.0 | 1.9 | 2.3 | 2.9 | 3.2 | 2.0 | 1.8 | 1.7 | 2.2 | 2.2 | 2.1 |
1991–2020 U.S. Climate Normals, NOAA NCEI — Cooke City 2 W, 10 mi away.
Inside the official boundary of Yellowstone National Park. Quietest months by visitation: Nov and Mar; busiest: Jul.
NPS visitation statistics, monthly averages 2021–2025 (2020 excluded).
Where this comes from
Location and category confirmed against OpenStreetMap.
OpenStreetMapWikidataOpenStreetMap element node/356511301
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