title: Bear Mountain (San Juan County, Colorado)
text: # Bear Mountain (San Juan County, Colorado)
  
  Bear Mountain is a 12,987-foot-elevation (3,958-meter) mountain summit located in San Juan County, Colorado, United States.
  
  ## Description
  
  Bear Mountain is situated 3.5 miles west-southwest of the community of Silverton, on land managed by San Juan National Forest. Bear Mountain is part of the San Juan Mountains which are a subset of the Rocky Mountains and is west of the Continental Divide. Precipitation runoff from the mountain drains into Bear Creek and South Fork Mineral Creek which are tributaries of the Animas River. Topographic relief is significant as the north aspect rises 3,300 feet (1,000 meters) above South Fork Mineral Creek in approximately 1.5 mile, and the east aspect rises 2,300 feet (700 meters) above Bear Creek in one-half-mile. The mountain's toponym has been officially adopted by the United States Board on Geographic Names, and has been in publications since at least 1906, if not earlier. Of the approximately 100 landforms in the United States named "Bear Mountain", this one ranks as the highest elevation.
  
  ## Climate
  
  According to the Köppen climate classification system, Bear Mountain is located in an alpine subarctic climate zone with long, cold, snowy winters, and cool to warm summers. Due to its altitude, it receives precipitation all year, as snow in winter, and as thunderstorms in summer, with a dry period in late spring.
  
  ## Gallery
  
  * Bear Mountain
  * Bear Mountain
  * Bear Mountain from the Million Dollar Highway
  * Historic 1874 image of Bear Mountain (lower right) viewed from Sultan Mountain
  