The Wallowa Lake and Mountains – “Americas Little Switzerland”.
Green Leaves by Audionautix is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)
Artist: http://audionautix.com/
The Wallowa Lake and Mountains – “Americas Little Switzerland”.
Green Leaves by Audionautix is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)
Artist: http://audionautix.com/
3 Comments
I've never heard of the Wallowas being called the Alps of North America, but the North Cascades in Washington are widely known as the "American Alps." I think the Wallowas are considered the "Alps of Oregon," rather than "of America," as the North Cascades already claim that title. (Regardless, the Wallowas are incredibly beautiful; I'm from Oregon btw.)
Hummm… As french, i don't know why this place is called like this, the trees are quite similars but no, in Alps, mountains are more concentrated ! Maybe more like the brittish columbia mountain range and plus, here in Europe, alpine grass is more green rather than the grass of your spacefull mountains in oregon. But in my opinion, both are magnificient ! Thanks to God !
I’m from Oregon and have been to both the Wallowas and North Cascades. I’ve never heard the North Cascades called the American Alps, but I’ve herd the Wallowas regularly called the Alps of Oregon. I would say, in general, both the North Cascades and Olympic mountains are probably closer to the Alps due to their near equivalent latitude, precipitation and uplifting. The Wallowas also are uplifted mountains like the Alps, but receive less precipitation due to its more southern latitude and further from a larger body of water. The Wallowas are generally greater elevation than the North Cascades (with the exception of Mt. Baker and Glacier Peak), but the North Cascades have more prominence. The Alps are much greater in elevation and prominence than both. I will say that the Wallowas do feature a large moraine lake (Wallowa Lake) much like the moraine lakes found in northern Italy and Switzerland. Having said that, there is nothing in North America that really compares to the Alps with the exception of the Alberta Rockies. The mountain ranges in Oregon, Washington and British Columbia lack height to match the Alps and the taller American Rockies and Sierra Nevada’s are too dry.