page_title: Ruby Mountains
section_title: Ecology
hierarchical_section_title: Ruby Mountains / Ecology
caption_attribution_description: English: View northwest along Nevada State Route 229 (Secret Pass Road) about 44.3 miles from Interstate 80 in Elko County, Nevada
context_page_description: The Ruby Mountains are a mountain range, primarily located within Elko County with a small extension into White Pine County, in Nevada, United States. Most of the range is included within the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest. The range reaches a maximum elevation of 11,387 feet on the summit of Ruby Dome. To the north is Secret Pass and the East Humboldt Range, and from there the Rubies run south-southwest for about 80 miles. To the east lies Ruby Valley, and to the west lie Huntington and Lamoille Valleys. The Ruby Mountains are the only range of an introduced bird, the Himalayan snowcock, in North America.
  The 'Rubies' were named after the garnets found by early explorers. The central core of the range shows extensive evidence of glaciation during recent ice ages, including U-shaped canyons, moraines, hanging valleys, and steeply carved granite mountains, cliffs, and cirques. All of these features can be seen from 12-mile Lamoille Canyon Road, a National Forest Scenic Byway which traverses Lamoille Canyon, entering the range near the town of Lamoille.
context_section_description: The eastern Great Basin is wetter than the western part in the rain shadow of the Sierra Nevada range.  Moisture collected by this high range promoted the heavy Pleistocene glaciation and still supports a wide variety of flora and fauna.  Lower elevations are covered by aspen trees, while higher up the whitebark and limber pines predominate.  Mountain goats, bighorn sheep, mule deer, mountain lions, marmots, beaver, and pikas are common residents. A population of Himalayan snowcock was introduced from Pakistan, and is thriving among the high cliffs. Streams, particularly on the western slopes have populations of native Lahontan or Humboldt cutthroat trout, but many of these populations are hybridized with rainbow trout or have been displaced by brown and brook trout, all stocked for angling purposes before impacts on native trout species were well understood.
caption: The eastern slopes of the Ruby Mountains viewed from SR 229 in Ruby Valley
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