Flagstaff Area Summits

Flagstaff Summits

Flagstaff, Arizona. At an elevation of almost seven thousand feet, it is one of the highest cities in the United States (of places with a population above 50,000 it’s second only to Santa Fe, NM). Perhaps unsurprisingly, the Flagstaff area is also home to the loftiest peaks in the state. And although folks who haven’t been to the state associate Arizona more with cacti, desert, and Gila Monsters, there are alpine summits to be found here as well.

The north ridge of Agassiz Peak in winter. With only this much snow on it, Agassiz is illegal to climb.



The San Francisco Peaks are the remnants of an ancient stratovolcano that geologists estimate once rose over 16,000 feet. Four peaks, the highest four in Arizona, line what most likely used to be the rim of the volcano (for more information on the San Francisco Volcanic field, see the page here).

Looking at UN 9065 from the summit of UN 8842; Humphreys Peak rises in the background. From here you can clearly see the damage done by the 1996 Hochderffer Fire, which closed the road to the Grand Canyon.



The rest of the high summits in the Flagstaff area are either lava domes, cinder cones, hills, or just points that gain such status merely because they’re already situated at such a high elevation that they didn’t have far to go. Nevertheless, the terrain is unique and I think most climbers and hikers would agree that they’re all worth a visit.

Mt. Elden rises above East Flagstaff and is one of the few of Flagstaff's high summits to have technical routes. The rocky southeast face in particular has been the site of rescue operations.

The Twenty Highest Flagstaff Area Summits

Clicking on the small picture by a peak will take you to a picture of that peak.

Clicking on an underlined peak will take you to that peak's page on SummitPost.

An elevation in red is interpolated.

O'Leary Peak, northeast of town - as seen from a small crater to its west. If you look closely you can see the fire lookout tower on the peak's east summit.



The aptly-named Sunset Crater lies just east of O'Leary Peak and here, is seen from O'Leary. Once it was permissible to hike to the top of the crater; erosion has damaged the crater and closed the trail.

Images

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