Loading map...

2022 Map of Monarch Lake

Name: 2022 Topographic Map of Monarch Lake
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 2022
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 2022

About this map

Arapaho National Forest and Roosevelt National Forest meet along the high spine of the Continental Divide, where the boundary between Grand and Boulder counties traces a series of massive summits. The landscape is defined by the high-elevation Indian Peaks, including North Arapaho Peak, South Arapaho Peak, and Navajo Peak. These granite features overlook complex glacial basins like Wheeler Basin and numerous alpine tarns including Crater Lake, Lake Dorothy, and Caribou Lake.

Water management and recreation dictate the lower elevations, notably at Monarch Lake and the Meadow Creek Reservoir. Historical transit through these peaks is documented via a network of steep footpaths such as the Arapaho Pass Trl, Pawnee Pass Trl, and the Continental Divide National Scenic Trl. Evidence of earlier land use survives in names like Sawmill Meadow, hinting at the timber resources once accessed near the headwaters of Meadow Creek.