Medicine Bow Peak, Mountain summit in Snowy Range, Wyoming.
Medicine Bow Peak is the highest summit in the Snowy Range of southern Wyoming, rising 12,014 feet above the surrounding landscape. The mountain is surrounded by alpine lakes and accessible through multiple established hiking trails that wind through forest and alpine terrain.
The peak became the site of a United Airlines airplane crash in 1955 that killed all people aboard. A memorial was installed decades later to honor those lost in this tragedy.
The mountain held significance as a travel route for Northern Arapahoe and Lakota peoples who moved through these high country passes. Walking the trails today, you can sense the long history of movement through this landscape.
Access to the peak is available from four different lake trailheads scattered throughout the range, offering options for various hiking abilities. The best time to visit is late summer and early fall when snow has melted and trails are most passable.
The summit contains ancient quartzite rock formations from the Proterozoic Era that stand out from surrounding geological features. Above the timberline, geometric soil patterns are visible where repeated freezing and thawing has shaped the ground into polygonal designs.
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