View source for Ruby Mountains

{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2023}}
{{Short description|Mountain range in Nevada, United States}}
{{Distinguish|Ruby Range (disambiguation)}}
{{About||the Canadian volcano|Ruby Mountain}}{{More citations needed|date=June 2024}}{{Infobox mountain
| name = Ruby Mountains
| photo = Rubies from Snell-080106.jpg
| photo_size = 
| photo_caption = Peaks around Ruby Dome
| country = United States
| state = Nevada
| district_type = County
| district = [[Elko County, Nevada|Elko]]
| range_coordinates = 
| range_coordinates_ref = 
| length_mi = 80
| length_orientation = North-South
| width_mi = 11
| width_ref = <ref>{{cite web |title=Backpacking In The Ruby Mountains |url=http://www.backpackingintherubymountains.info/ |access-date=2010-06-01}}</ref>
| highest = [[Ruby Dome]]
| elevation_ft = 11387
| coordinates = {{coord|40|37|18|N|115|28|31|W|type:mountain|format=dms|display=inline,title}}
| coordinates_ref = <ref name="ngs">{{cite ngs |pid=LQ0693 |name=Ruby Dome Cairn |accessdate=2022-09-04}}</ref>
| map_image = NVMap-doton-RubyMtns.png
| map_size = 200
| map_caption = Location of the Ruby Mountains within Nevada
|
| native_name = 
}}

The '''Ruby Mountains''' ([[Shoshoni language|Shoshoni]]: 'Duka Doya', meaning “Snowcapped”)<ref>{{Cite web |last=Unlimited |first=National Wildlife Federation, Rocky Mountain Wild, and Trout |date=2022-06-14 |title=Little Potential for Development, High Potential for Harm |url=https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/1a259c9c5b634b708762b27ddc5a8d52 |access-date=2023-11-12 |website=ArcGIS StoryMaps |language=en-us}}</ref> are a [[mountain range]], primarily located within [[Elko County, Nevada|Elko County]] with a small extension into [[White Pine County, Nevada|White Pine County]], in [[Nevada]], [[United States]]. Most of the range is included within the [[Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.fs.usda.gov/r04/humboldt-toiyabe/recreation|title=Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest: Ruby Mountains Wilderness|publisher=USDA Forest Service|access-date=2022-09-04}}</ref> The range reaches a maximum elevation of {{convert|11387|ft|m}} on the summit of [[Ruby Dome]].<ref name="pb">{{cite peakbagger |pid=3524 |name=Ruby Dome, Nevada |access-date=2011-05-19}}</ref> To the north is Secret Pass and the [[East Humboldt Range]], and from there the Rubies run south-southwest for about {{convert|80|mi}}. To the east lies [[Ruby Valley]], and to the west lie Huntington and Lamoille Valleys. The Ruby Mountains are the only range of an introduced bird, the [[Himalayan snowcock]], in North America. The mountain range was named after the [[garnet]]s found by early explorers.{{Citation needed|date=June 2024}} The central core of the range shows extensive evidence of [[Glacier|glaciation]] during recent [[ice age]]s, including [[Valley|U-shaped canyons]], [[moraine]]s, [[Valley#Hanging valleys|hanging valleys]], and steeply carved granite [[Pyramidal peak|mountains]], [[Arête|cliffs]], and [[cirque]]s.{{Citation needed|date=June 2024}}

==Major features==
[[File:Ruby Mtns with Ruby Dome.jpg|thumb|left|260px|Highest Peaks with Ruby Dome on right, photo from [[Spring Creek, Nevada|Spring Creek]]]]
[[File:Ruby_Dome.jpg|thumb|left|260px|Ruby Dome from the base of the North Face.  The normal ascent is on the slopes to the right (west)]]
Major valleys include [[Lamoille Canyon]] (and its branches Thomas and [[Right Fork Canyon]]s), [[Seitz Canyon]], Box Canyon and Kleckner Canyon. Canyons to the north drain into the main stem of the Humboldt River above Elko, while a group of canyons above the [[Te-Moak Tribe of Western Shoshone Indians of Nevada|Te-Moak tribal lands]] constitute the headwaters of the South Fork of the Humboldt River.  Major summits in the central core of the range include [[Ruby Dome]], [[Thomas Peak]], [[Liberty Peak]], [[Mount Fitzgerald (Nevada)|Mount Fitzgerald]], [[Verdi Peak (Nevada)|Verdi Peak]], [[Snow Lake Peak]], Mount Silliman, and [[Mount Gilbert (Nevada)|Mount Gilbert]].  Prominent peaks further south include [[King Peak (Nevada)|King]], [[Lake Peak (Nevada)|Lake]], Wines, [[Tipton Peak|Tipton]], and Pearl Peaks.  North of the central core, significant peaks include Old-Man-of-the-Mountain and Soldier Peak.

[[File:A341, Lamoille Lake, Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest, Nevada, USA, 2011.JPG|thumb|Lamoille Lake]]
Glaciers gouged out basins that are now alpine lakes.  The larger of these, all located in the central core of the range, include [[Echo Lake (Nevada)|Echo]], [[Liberty Lake (Nevada)|Liberty]], [[Favre Lake|Favre]], [[Lamoille Lake (Nevada)|Lamoille]], [[Castle Lake (Nevada)|Castle]], and [[Griswold Lake (Nevada)|Griswold]] lakes, while smaller tarns also in the central core include the scenic [[Island Lake (Nevada)|Island]], [[Dollar Lakes|Dollar]], [[Verdi Lake (Nevada)|Verdi]], [[Snow Lake (Nevada)|Snow]], [[Box Lake (Nevada)|Box]], and [[Seitz Lake (Nevada)|Seitz]] lakes.  Further to the north are [[Cold Lakes (Nevada)|Cold]], [[Hidden Lakes (Nevada)|Hidden]], [[Soldier Lakes (Nevada)|Soldier]], and [[Robinson Lake (Nevada)|Robinson]] lakes, while to the south are [[North Furlong Lake (Nevada)|North Furlong]] and [[Overland Lake (Nevada)|Overland]] lakes.  Water collected by the southern section of the Rubies seeps into the adjacent Ruby Valley to form the Ruby Lake National Wildlife Refuge.

==Ecology==
[[File:2012-10-17 103A View northwest along Nevada State Route 229 (Secret Pass Road) about 44.3 miles from Interstate 80 in Elko County in Nevada.jpg|thumb|left|The eastern slopes of the Ruby Mountains viewed from [[Nevada State Route 229|SR 229]] in [[Ruby Valley]]]]
The eastern Great Basin is wetter than the western part in the [[rain shadow]] of the [[Sierra Nevada (U.S.)|Sierra Nevada]] range.  Moisture collected by this high range promoted the heavy [[Pleistocene]] glaciation and still supports a wide variety of flora and fauna.  Lower elevations are covered by [[aspen]] trees, while higher up the [[whitebark pine|whitebark]] and [[limber pine]]s predominate.  [[Mountain goat]]s, [[bighorn sheep]], [[mule deer]], [[cougar|mountain lions]], [[marmot]]s, [[beaver]], and [[pika]]s are common residents, and the mule deer population is reportedly the largest in Nevada.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Friedman |first1=Lisa |title=Trump Administration Opens More Public Land to Drilling and Mining |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/08/climate/trump-new-mexico-nevada-mining-drilling.html |website=New York Times |publisher=NYT |access-date=10 April 2025}}</ref> A population of [[Himalayan snowcock]] was introduced from Pakistan, and is thriving among the high cliffs. Streams, particularly on the western slopes have populations of native [[Lahontan cutthroat trout|Lahontan]] or [[Humboldt cutthroat trout]], but many of these populations are hybridized with [[rainbow trout]] or have been displaced by [[brown trout|brown]] and [[brook trout]], all stocked for angling purposes before impacts on native trout species were well understood.

==Geology==
The Ruby Mountains are part of the [[Basin and Range Province]] that formed partly due to extension of the [[North American Plate]]. [[Normal fault]]s on the eastern and western flanks of the range separate it from the basins on either side of it. The Ruby Mountains are an example of a [[metamorphic core complex]] that formed during the Cretaceous-Paleogene time when the oceanic Farallon Plate was subducting underneath the North American plate causing crustal thickening throughout Nevada and Utah. The weight from the thickening crust increased temperatures and pressures up to 40 km<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://pubs.geoscienceworld.org/gsabulletin/article/122/1-2/24-49/125485 |title=Reconstructing the kinematic evolution of curved mountain belts |access-date=2023-02-28 |website=pubs.geoscienceworld.org |doi=10.1130/b26484.1}}</ref> at depth and caused regional metamorphism to occur, as well as the formation of some migmatic igneous bodies. During the Oligocene to Eocene, active subduction was no longer occurring and the upper crust relaxed causing the stress to change from compressional to extensional. The extensional force caused the middle and lower crustal rocks to be exhumed to the surface as part of the Basin and Range Province along the footwall of a large [[detachment fault]]. A [[Mylonite|mylonitic]] [[shear zone]] can be traced along the fault on the western margin of the Ruby Mountains, marking the contact between the [[Igneous rock|igneous]] and [[metamorphic rock]]s in the core complex and the undeformed [[sedimentary rock]]s around it. Generally deeper rocks are exposed in the northern part of the Ruby Mountains than in the south.<ref>[http://rmg.geoscienceworld.org/cgi/reprint/35/2/205 Satarugsa, Peangta and Johnson, Roy A. (2000) Cenozoic tectonic evolution of the Ruby Mountains metamorphic core complex and adjacent valleys, northeastern Nevada, Rocky Mountain Geology, 35: 205-230]</ref>

{{wide image|2013-09-28 12 49 53 Panorama of the Ruby Mountains from Lamoille Summit, Nevada along Nevada State Route 227.jpg|1500px|align-cap=center|Panorama of the Ruby Mountains from Lamoille Summit on [[Nevada State Route 227]]|alt=Ruby Mountains}}

==Wilderness area==
The higher altitude sections of the range were designated as the {{convert|90000|acre}} [[Ruby Mountains Wilderness|Ruby Mountains Wilderness Area]] in 1989.<ref>{{cite web |title=Ruby Mountains Wilderness |url=http://www.nevadawilderness.org/Library/area.asp?nMode=1&nLibraryID=161 |publisher=Friends of Nevada Wilderness |access-date=2010-06-01 |archive-date=2011-07-28 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110728093808/http://www.nevadawilderness.org/Library/area.asp?nMode=1&nLibraryID=161 |url-status=dead }}</ref>  The isolated Seitz and Echo Canyons are further preserved as an ecologically special Research Natural Area.

The [[Ruby Crest National Recreation Trail]] winds from Harrison Pass northward about {{convert|40|mi|abbr=on}} to the Road's End Trailhead high in Lamoille Canyon.  Principal recreational access can be found at Lamoille and Soldier Canyons on the west side of the range, and at the Overland Lake Trailhead to the east.

==In popular culture==
* An opening title in the 2006 film [[Seraphim Falls]] places the first scenes in the Ruby Mountains.
* In 1994, [[Frank Wells]] died in a helicopter crash after skiing in the Ruby Mountains.
{{Clear}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Ruby Mountains}}
* [http://www.fs.usda.gov/r04/humboldt-toiyabe U.S. Forest Service]
* [http://www.summitpost.org/ruby-mountains/288999 SummitPost.org]

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[[Category:Ruby Mountains| ]]<!---for readers linking from article--->
[[Category:Mountain ranges of Nevada]]
[[Category:Humboldt–Toiyabe National Forest]]
[[Category:Mountain ranges of Elko County, Nevada]]
[[Category:Mountain ranges of White Pine County, Nevada]]
[[Category:Mountain ranges of the Great Basin]]