Editing Front Range (section)

{{Short description|Mountain range of the Southern Rocky Mountains of North America}}
{{Distinguish|Front Ranges|text=the Canadian [[Front Ranges]]}}
{{For-multi|the Colorado–Wyoming urban region|Front Range urban corridor|the [[Megaregions of the United States|megaregion]]|Southern Rocky Mountain Front}}
{{Infobox mountain
| name= Front Range
| photo= Indian Peaks Wilderness.jpg 
| photo_caption= Front Range Peaks in the [[Indian Peaks Wilderness]]
| country= [[United States]]
| subdivision1_type= States
| subdivision1= {{hlist|Colorado|Wyoming}}
| parent= Rocky Mountains
| highest= Grays Peak
| elevation_ft= 14278
| coordinates= {{coord|39|38|02|N|105|49|01|W|type:mountain_scale:100000|format=dms|display=inline,title}}
| geology= 
| orogeny= 
| map_image= Image Wpdms nasa topo front range.jpg
| map_size= 200
| map_caption= The Front Range (excluding the [[Laramie Mountains]]) is shown highlighted on a map of the western U.S.
}}

The '''Front Range''' is a [[mountain range]] of the Southern [[Rocky Mountains]] of North America located in the central portion of the U.S. [[Colorado|State of Colorado]], and southeastern portion of the U.S. [[Wyoming|State of Wyoming]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://geonames.usgs.gov/pls/gnispublic |title=GNIS Feature Search |access-date=2010-05-13 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://www.webcitation.org/698t1HjXe?url=http://geonames.usgs.gov/pls/gnispublic/f?p=132:1:3161899225272452 |archive-date=2012-07-14 }} |U.S. Geological Survey confirms that the Laramie Mountains(range) are the northern extent of the Front Range.</ref> It is the first mountain range encountered as one goes westbound along the [[40th parallel north]] across the [[Great Plains]] of North America.

The Front Range runs north-south between [[Casper, Wyoming]], and [[Pueblo, Colorado]], and rises nearly 10,000 feet above the Great Plains. [[Longs Peak]], [[Mount Blue Sky]], and [[Pikes Peak]] are its most prominent peaks, visible from the [[Interstate 25]] corridor. The area is a popular destination for mountain biking, hiking, climbing, and camping during the warmer months and for skiing and snowboarding during winter. Millions of years ago, the present-day Front Range was home to ancient mountain ranges, deserts, beaches, and even oceans.<ref name="ancientdenvers">{{cite book | last = Johnson | first = Kirk R. | title = Ancient Denvers | publisher = Fulcrum Publishing | year = 2006 | isbn = 978-1-55591-554-4|display-authors=etal}}</ref>

The name "Front Range" is also applied to the [[Front Range urban corridor]], the populated region of Colorado and [[Wyoming]] just east of the mountain range and extending from [[Cheyenne, Wyoming]] south to [[Pueblo, Colorado]]. This urban corridor benefits from the weather-moderating effect of the Front Range mountains, which help block prevailing storms.