Organ Needle

Organ Needle
View of Organ Needle from the west
Elevation	8,980 ft (2,737 m) [1]
Prominence	3,700 ft (1,128 m) [1]
Location
Location	Doña Ana County, New Mexico, USA
Range	Organ Mountains
Coordinates	32°20′42″N 106°33′41″W / 32.3450927°N 106.5613846°W / 32.3450927; -106.5613846Coordinates: 32°20′42″N 106°33′41″W / 32.3450927°N 106.5613846°W / 32.3450927; -106.5613846[2]
Topo map	USGS Organ Peak
Climbing
Easiest route	Off-trail hike/scramble, class 3+ or 4

Organ Needle is the highest point of the Organ Mountains in the south-central part of the US state of New Mexico. It lies in Doña Ana County, 13 miles (20,921 m) east-northeast of Las Cruces and 4 miles (6 km) southwest of White Sands, headquarters of the White Sands Missile Range. It is at the southeast end of a narrow ridge of vertically-jointed granite (more specifically, quartz monzonite) called The Needles.

Organ Needle is one of the most dramatic peaks in the state. True to its name, it is a steep, pointed summit. Moreover, it rises 4,000 feet (1,220 m) above the edge of the Tularosa Basin to the northeast in only 2 miles (3.2 km), and 5,100 feet (1,554 m) above Las Cruces, giving it as large and as steep a degree of local relief as any peak in the state, including Big Hatchet Peak, Sandia Crest, and Shiprock.

Climbing Organ Needle involves tricky route-finding, a vertical gain of about 4,000 feet (1,219 m) and a difficult scramble (Class 3+ or 4).^[3]

References

1. ^ ^{a b} "Organ Needle, New Mexico". Peakbagger.com. http://www.peakbagger.com/peak.aspx?pid=4274. Retrieved 2008-12-11. 
2. ^ "Organ Needle". Geographic Names Information System, U.S. Geological Survey. http://geonames.usgs.gov/pls/gnispublic/f?p=gnispq:3:::NO::P3_FID:899828. Retrieved 2008-12-11. 
3. ^ "Organ Needle". SummitPost.org. http://www.summitpost.org/mountain/rock/151787/organ-needle.html. Retrieved 2008-12-11.