Chuckanut Mountains

Mountain range in Washington, United States

Fossils of Sabalites campbelli, extinct Palm leaves, in the Chuckanut Formation. Chuckanut Mountain Looking east from Chuckanut Island

The Chuckanut Mountains (from "Chuckanut", an indigenous word meaning "long beach far from a narrow entrance"[1]), or Chuckanuts, are located on the northern Washington state coast of the Salish Sea, just south of Bellingham, Washington, United States. Being a part of the Cascade Range, they are the only place where the Cascades come west down to meet the sea. The Chuckanuts are considered to be a part of the Puget Lowland Forest Ecoregion.

The range contains Larrabee State Park, the first State Park to be designated in Washington (1923). Its mountains include:

* Anderson Mountain
* Blanchard Mountain
* Chuckanut Mountain (including North Chuckanut Mountain, South Chuckanut Mountain, and Chuckanut Ridge)
* Galbraith Mountain (also known as North Lookout Mountain)
* King Mountain
* Lookout Mountain
* Sehome Hill
* Squalicum Mountain
* Stewart Mountain
* Toad Mountain

## Geology

[edit]

The Chuckanut Mountains were formed by the folding of the Chuckanut Formation (which is predominantly made up of layers of 55-million-year-old sandstone, conglomerate, shale, and bituminous and sub-bituminous coal) and the later Huntingdon Formation (predominantly shale and sandstone) on top, as well as an exposed section of pre-Jurassic-age phyllite.[2] The Chuckanuts are well known for their Tertiary Period leaf fossils.[3]

In 1988, an outcrop of metamorphic phyllite, green chert, and milk quartz on Blanchard Mountain was exposed by a construction crew. The outcrop is unique for its unusually large chunks of stilpnomelane.[4]

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "CHUCKANUT." Washington Place Names. Tacoma Public Library Online Digital Collections. Retrieved 23 March 2022. Archived from the original on 23 March 2022.
2. ^ "BP Cherry Point Cogeneration Project, Application for Site Certification" (PDF). Energy Facility Site Evaluation Council. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2006-09-25. Retrieved 2007-10-02.
3. ^ Sykes, Karen (21 March 2001). "Let mind and feet wander at lovely Squires Lake Park". Seattle Post-Intelligencer.
4. ^ George E. Mustoe (December 1998). "Stilpnomelane at Blanchard mountain, western Skagit County, Washington". Washington Geology. 26 (4): 3–8.

## External links

[edit]

* "Chuckanut Mountain". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior.

Authority control databases

International|

* VIAF

National|

* United States
* Israel

48°40′44″N 122°28′5″W﻿ / ﻿48.67889°N 122.46806°W﻿ / 48.67889; -122.46806

This Whatcom County, Washington state location article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

|

* v
* t
* e

*[v]: View this template
*[t]: Discuss this template
*[e]: Edit this template