The Thunderer
More photographs at the Wikimedia Commons category.
The Thunderer rises to 3,199 m in Wyoming. Iceberg Peak stands 3,513 m to the north-northeast, 18 miles off. The nearest named place is Soda Butte Creek, a picnic site 2.6 miles away. Beartooth Highway passes 7.4 miles off.
The story
The Thunderer el. 10,558 feet (3,218 m) is a mountain peak in the northeast section of Yellowstone National Park, in the Absaroka Range of the U.S. state of Wyoming. Named by members of the Arnold Hague Geological Survey of 1885 for its propensity to attract thunderstorms, the mountain is a long high ridge just north of Mount Norris. Prior to 1885, the peak was merely considered a high ridge extending north from Mount Norris rather than a separately named peak. The Thunderer is easily visible from the northeast entrance road as it passes up the Soda Butte Creek canyon. The north end of the ridge can be reached via the 7.4 miles (11.9 km) Thunderer Cutoff Trail. The trailhead is located just opposite the Pebble Creek Campground on the northeast entrance road. This trail passes through Chaw Pass to connect with the Cache Creek trail which parallels the southeast face of The Thunderer ridge.
From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Wikidata Q7769180, referenced by the OpenStreetMap record.
What the record says
- Elevation
- 3199 m
How to reach it
- 7.4 mi off the Beartooth Highway, National
- 16.0 mi off the Chief Joseph Scenic Highway
- 28.1 mi off the Buffalo Bill Cody Scenic Byway
Overlooks nearby
- Pilot & Index · 13 mi
- Crazy Creek · 14 mi
- Falls · 17 mi
- Pilot-Index overlook · 21 mi
Named places within 25 miles
- Mount Norris: 2.7 mi
- The Needle: 3.7 mi
- Cache Mountain: 4.0 mi
- Soda Butte: 5.0 mi
- Abiathar Peak: 5.1 mi
- Soda Butte Creek: 2.6 mi
- Warm Creek Picnic Area: 7.1 mi
- Yellowstone River Picnic Area: 16.9 mi
- Dunraven Road Picnic Area: 22.5 mi
- Cascade Lake Trail Picnic Area: 23.5 mi
- Crazy Creek Falls: 14.1 mi
- Tower Fall: 16.2 mi
- Lost Creek Falls: 17.8 mi
- Impasse Falls: 21.4 mi
- Beartooth Falls: 22.3 mi
- Soda Butte Cone: 5.0 mi
- Devil's Den: 16.2 mi
- Petrified Tree: 18.8 mi
- Clay Butte Lookout: 21.2 mi
- Wahb spring: 6.2 mi
- Calcite Springs: 16.6 mi
- Cooke City Historical Marker: 9.3 mi
- Willow Park: 12.3 mi
- Overhanging Cliff: 16.3 mi
- Cathedral Cliffs: 23.6 mi
- Gallery Dan Hartman: 8.1 mi
- Erma Number 1 Mine: 9.4 mi
- Cooke City Montana Museum: 9.9 mi
Other summits around it
The highest named summits within 18.0 miles of The Thunderer. Elevation from each summit’s own record; bearing measured between the two coordinates.
| Summit | Bearing | Elevation | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Iceberg Peak | NNE 28° | 3,513 m | 17.7 mi |
| Pilot Peak | ENE 59° | 3,512 m | 9.9 mi |
| Mount Zimmer | NNE 28° | 3,511 m | 16.8 mi |
| Sawtooth Mountain | NNE 25° | 3,498 m | 18.0 mi |
| Mount Fox | NNE 22° | 3,418 m | 16.3 mi |
| Pollux Peak | SSE 159° | 3,348 m | 17.5 mi |
| Abiathar Peak | NNE 14° | 3,331 m | 5.1 mi |
| Indian Peak | SE 131° | 3,329 m | 13.2 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 | 20:26 | 21:11 |
| September equinox | 07:08 | 18:41 | 19:20 |
| 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, 8 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.
OpenStreetMapWikipediaWikidata- USGS Geographic Names Information System feature 1595476 — The Thunderer, Park County, Wyoming.
OpenStreetMap element node/356504802
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