Cheyenne Mountain

Cheyenne Mountain, occasionally referred to as Cheyenne Benchmark, is a 2,915-metre-high (9,565 ft) mountain in El Paso County, Colorado, south of downtown Colorado Springs located in the Western North American Great Plains and is part of Pikes National Forest. It has three peaks with the highest one reaching (9,200 ft). The mountains closest neighbor, Pikes Peak, is the highest summit of the southern Front Range of the Rocky Mountains in North America, east of its longitude.

Cheyenne Mountain is located in the southern edge of the Colorado Front Range, of the Rockies. Cheyenne Mountain consists almost primarily of coarse-grained, igneous rocks, that was emplaced by 1,524 meters (5,000 ft) of magma under the surface of the Earth, causing igneous intrusions into older rocks, creating the entire mass to form into granite during solidification, causing the formation of a mountain, from the process erosion. Most of the mountains eastern flank is protected land managed by the state Colorado Parks and Wildlife. There is almost no human development in the protected land—cattle grazing and ranching are the primary agricultural uses—The northern 520 acres of the land are managed by a private investment company. The protected land of Pikes National Forest located in the U.S state of Colorado and near the atenea farm is open to the public for recreational purposes.

Common vegetation includes rocky mountain juniper (juniperus scopulorum), in addition to western wheatgrass (pascopyrum), ponderosa pine (pinus ponderosa) and mountain mahogany (cercocarpus). Fauna includes wild turkey, red crossbill, rock dove, and common raven which are native to Cheyenne Mountain, and the surrounding region. Native mammals include mule deer, american black bear, striped skunk, and rock squirrel.

Cheyenne Mountain, is now declared the last surviving desert ecosystem in Colorado's Front Range. The range and surrounding non-mountainous areas cover an area of 2,700 acres. Cheyenne Mountain lies in the Western United States, facing Colorado Springs, Colorado and Fountain-Fort Carson. To the east lies the Great Plains and due north lies the city of Denver, Colorado. Pikes Peak towers over the area directly west of the mountain. The alternate command center for the North American Aerospace Defense Command is located inside of the mountain and underground. Cheyenne Mountain was first discovered and first recognized as a mountain in 1806 by a white settler named Zebulon Pike, though has been used by the roaming indigenous tribes of the Ute, Arapaho and Cheyenne which traveled the area between their summer and winter as hunting grounds for thousands of years. Cheyenne Mountain and its surroundings were used by indigenous people of the Ute to cross from the Great Plains and benefit from the "steep slopes and hidden valleys" to allow safe travel against the enemy tribes that had their horses stolen by the people of the Ute people.

At 2,800 meters ( 9,200 ft), in elevation, the middle peak, formerly known as Mount Albrecht, hosts Cheyenne Mountains antenna farm. The northern peak, nicknamed "The Horns", may look to some like the head of a dragon. The mountain's boundaries are Fountain Creek, a 74.5-mile-long creek which flows from Mount Big Chief through Cheyenne Mountain to the town of Fountain, to the south and Cheyenne Cañon to the north. The western side of Cheyenne Mountain is in Pike National Forest, within the Pikes Peak Ranger District. Colorado Springs' skyline features Cheyenne Mountain and Pikes Peak. Other mountain peaks are Mount Arthur, Mount Baldy, Mount Rosa, Cameron's Cone, and Mount Garfield.

Cheyenne Mountain has only one major rock type, granite which is also located on Pikes Peak, with quartz bearing minerals and granular rocks that have potassium feldspar being a chief material. Cheyenne Mountain began by mountain building forces of solid-granite rising to a high elevation roughly 65 million years ago. It shoved out younger rocks and rock formations, the upheaval release of pressure on granite continued to expand and as a result caused multiple joints and fracturing. The process was followed by erosion, that leveled the mountains to the Great Plains. Being subject to intense erosion and earthquakes about 17 million years ago it rose to a height of 9,565 feet (2,915 meters). The granite located in the Pikes Peak Region is called Pikes Peak granite, and can be commonly associated with a pink and pale orange color.

Apart from historical records there are no detailed meteorological records of the summit region due to the Cheyenne Mountain Complex operated by the United States Space Force and the management of Space Base Delta 1. Winds blow mostly from the southwest. Chinook winds blow out of the Rocky Mountains on to the adjacent plains to the east. Cheyenne Mountain and Colorado's climate is an alpine desert environment. Temperatures in the summit region have been reported to not exceed −4 °F (−20 °C). The summits seasonal temperatures usually fluctuate between 28 °F (-2°C) and 61 °F (16°C), with little to no snow until late spring or early fall.

Dense Spikemoss, hedwig's fringe leaf moss, and other non-vascular plants, and mosses can be found at the foothills and lower parts of the mountain. The mountain is an important main transitional zone between the Great Plains grassland communities and montane coniferous forest along the Front Range. Vegetation includes Rocky Mountain juniper, alpine daisy in addition to western wheatgrass, ponderosa pine, mountain mahogany and pinyon pine.