Worthington Mountains

The Worthington Range from the east. Meeker Peak is on the left.

The Freiberg district on the northeast end of the range, located northeast of Worthington Peak, has had a long history of mining. The bedrock in the area is Pogonip Group limestone and dolomites of Ordovician age which strike north south and dip 20° to the west. The sedimentary rocks have been faulted and intruded by numerous felsic intrusives. The old Freiberg mine was worked for gold and silver starting in 1865. Later the New Freiberg mine was worked with underground and open pit methods for silver, lead, zinc and copper from 1919 through 1948.[4]

The Upper Devonian Guilmette Formation outcrops in the southern portion of the range. The Guilmette contains exposures of the Alamo Breccia related to the Alamo Impact which is approximately centered in the Timpahute Range some 12 miles (19 km) to the south.[5]

The lower elevations of the mountains are characterized by a sagebrush community and other shrubs. The middle elevations are primarily forested by singleleaf pinyon pine (Pinus monophylla), Utah Juniper (Juniperus osteosperma), and mountain mahogany (Cercpcarpus ledifolius). At the higher elevations are bristlecone pine (Pinus longaeva) and, in two small areas south of Worthington Peak, ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa).

Large mammals found within the range are mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus), pronghorn (Antilocapra americana), desert bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis nelsoni), bobcat (Lynx rufus baileyi), and mountain lion (Felis concolor).[6]

Worthington Mountains Wilderness, Nevada

Worthington Mountains Wilderness Area was created by the U.S. Congress in 2004 and consists of most of the Worthington Mountains. The wilderness area encompasses 30,664 acres (124.09 km²) of the range and the extensive alluvial fans on the western slopes of the mountains. Worthington Peak is on the northern border of the wilderness. The northernmost part of the range, north of Worthington Peak, includes an old mining area and is outside of the wilderness. The wilderness ranges from 4,900 feet (1,500 m) to 8,968 feet (2,733 m) in elevation.[7]

The Bureau of Land Management says that "no other Nevada area expresses the wilderness characteristics of stark beauty, chaotic topography, and remoteness quite as well as the Worthington Wilderness."[3] The terrain consists of jagged peaks and ridges, narrow canyons, and steep escarpments sloping down to the washes and the desert floor.[8]

The most notable attraction of the wilderness is probably Leviathan Cave just northeast of Meeker Peak. The cave is reached by a difficult informal two-plus miles long trail which climbs the east side of the range. The cave is located at 7,800 feet (2,400 m) in elevation and entrance requires ropes to descend a 30-foot vertical drop. The cave contains stalactites and stalagmites and is about 350 yards (320 m) long. In the 2000-2010 period only about 40 people annually visited the cave.[9][10]