Colorado Life Zones Info

After leaving the montane life zone, you enter the subalpine life.  The elevation is from 10,000 to 11,499 ft above sea level. Because of the cold temperatures and large amount of snow that falls there, the subalpine summer is a lot shorter.  It last from late June to early September.  Most of the year there is snow there!

Again the best way to tell if you are in the subalpine is by the plants.  Aspen trees from the montane disappear and you get in scattered forests of large pine trees.  The land becomes very rocky and steep with large meadows, mountain streams, cliffs, and peaks.  Plants here must survive through very cold long snowpacked winters and grow quickly in the short summer.  In the summer the open meadows fill in quickly with bright beautiful flowers like Blue Bells, Indian Paintbrush, and Columbines.

Animals like the lynx and elk must be able to climb around on steep slopes.Similar to the montane, animals have adapted by migrating down to lower elevations in the winter (elk),  by growing thick warm coats of fur (Lynx), by changing colors to blend in to the snow (snowshoe hare), or by hibernating (tree squirrel).

Desert (Southwest CO)

Plains

Foothills Life Zone

Montane Life Zone

Subalpine Life Zone

Alpine Life Zone