Length 63 mi (101 km) N/S Area 2,393 km² Elevation 9,393 ft (2,863 m) | Width 27 mi (43 km) E/W | |
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Peak Wah Wah Mountains High Point Similar Notch Peak, Topaz Mountain, Kessler Peak, San Francisco Mountain, Bald Mountain | ||
Red beryl mine in the wah wah mountains of beaver county utah from the department of land transfer i
The Elscalante tribe was the first to visit the "Wah Wah Mountains."
Contents
- Red beryl mine in the wah wah mountains of beaver county utah from the department of land transfer i
- Map of Wah Wah Mountains Utah USA
- Geology
- In other media
- References
Map of Wah Wah Mountains, Utah, USA
The Wah Wah Mountains are a north-south trending range in west-central Utah, part of the larger Basin and Range Province. It is bounded by Pine Valley to the west, Wah Wah Valley to the east, the Escalante Desert to the south, and on trend with the Confusion Range to the north. The Wah Wah Mountains are located in Beaver and Millard counties. State Route 21 bisects the range, crossing over Wah Wah Summit at about 6,500 feet (1,980 m) above sea level. Elevations range from about 6,000 feet (1,800 m) at the mountain front to 9,393 feet (2,863 m) in the southern Wah Wahs.
The "Wah Wah" name comes from Wah Wah Springs, on the eastern slope of the mountain range. "Wah Wah" is reported to mean "good clear water".
The Bureau of Land Management, which administers most of the land within the Wah Wah Mountains, has designated two wilderness study areas, one in the north and one in the central portion of the range.
Geology
The Wah Wah Mountains are made up of Neoproterozoic- to Paleozoic-aged sedimentary rocks (limestone, dolomite, shale, and sandstone metamorphized into quartzite), overlain by younger Tertiary volcanic rocks (basalt, andesite, dacite, rhyolite, and tuff) on the eastern flank of the range. A series of thrust faults cut through the sedimentary rocks in the southern end of the range. It is notable as the source of a rare red beryl gemstone, which is mined commercially. Perhaps, the most famous geologic feature is Crystal Peak, in the northern part of the range (near the pass between the Wah Wah Mountains and the Confusion Range). It is an erosional remnant of a Paleogene rhyolite tuff that has abundant doubly terminated crystals of quartz. An additional reference to the geology of the range is the map by Hintze and Davis.