Graham Peak is a 7,563-foot elevation (2,305 m) mountain summit located in Tooele County, Utah, United States.

Graham Peak
Graham Peak
Highest point
Elevation7,563 ft (2,305 m)[1]
Prominence3,043 ft (928 m)[2]
Isolation15.55 mi (25.03 km)[3]
Coordinates40°57′06″N 113°47′23″W / 40.951669°N 113.789656°W / 40.951669; -113.789656[2]
Naming
EtymologyAthol Graham
Geography
Graham Peak is located in Utah
Graham Peak
Graham Peak
Location in Utah
Graham Peak is located in the United States
Graham Peak
Graham Peak
Graham Peak (the United States)
LocationGreat Salt Lake Desert
CountryUnited States of America
StateUtah
CountyTooele
Parent rangeSilver Island Mountains
Great Basin Ranges
Topo mapUSGS Graham Peak
Geology
Rock ageCambrian
Mountain typeFault block
Rock typeLimestone
Climbing
Easiest routeclass 2 hiking[3]

Description

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Graham Peak is the highest summit in the Silver Island Mountains which are a subset of the Great Basin Ranges.[2][4] It is set on land controlled by the Bureau of Land Management. The community of Wendover, Utah, is 21 miles to the southwest and the Bonneville Speedway is ten miles to the south. Topographic relief is significant as the summit rises over 3,300 feet (1,000 meters) above the Bonneville Salt Flats in three miles, as well as the same above the Pilot Valley Playa. This landform's toponym was officially adopted in 1960 by the U.S. Board on Geographic Names to honor Athol Graham (1924–1960), who was the first Utahan and second American to drive over 300 MPH on land.[5][6] He was killed August 1, 1960, at the Bonneville Salt Flats while attempting to set a land speed record as the first to go over 400 MPH.

Climate

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Graham Peak is set in the Great Salt Lake Desert which has hot summers and cold winters.[7] The desert is an example of a cold desert climate as the desert's elevation makes temperatures cooler than lower elevation deserts. Due to the high elevation and aridity, temperatures drop sharply after sunset. Summer nights are comfortably cool. Winter highs are generally above freezing, and winter nights are bitterly cold, with temperatures often dropping well below freezing.

See also

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Graham Peak centered, Jenkins Peak on the left, Cobb Peak to the right, from Bonneville Salt Flats

References

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  1. ^ United States Geological Survey topographical map - Graham Peak
  2. ^ a b c "Graham Peak, Utah". Peakbagger.com. Retrieved 2022-08-24.
  3. ^ a b "Graham Peak - 7,563' UT". listsofjohn.com. Retrieved 2022-08-24.
  4. ^ John W. Van Cott (1990), Utah Place Names, University of Utah Press, ISBN 9780874803457, p. 160
  5. ^ "Graham Peak". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior. Retrieved 2022-08-24.
  6. ^ United States Board on Geographic Names (1960), Decisions on Names in the United States, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands, Decision List 6001, Department of the Interior, p. 51
  7. ^ Peel, M. C.; Finlayson, B. L.; McMahon, T. A. (2007). "Updated world map of the Köppen−Geiger climate classification". Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci. 11. ISSN 1027-5606.
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