The Chigmit Mountains are a subrange of the Aleutian Range

Aleutian Range

The Aleutian Range is a major mountain range of southwest Alaska, extending from Chakachamna Lake to Unimak Island, at the tip of the Alaska Peninsula. It includes all of the mountains of the Peninsula. It is especially notable for its large number of active volcanoes, which are also part of the...

 in the Kenai Peninsula

Kenai Peninsula Borough, Alaska

-National protected areas:* Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge ** Chiswell Islands** Tuxedni Wilderness* Chugach National Forest * Katmai National Park and Preserve ** Katmai Wilderness...

 and Lake and Peninsula

Lake and Peninsula Borough, Alaska

-National protected areas:* Alagnak Wild River* Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge ** Sutwik Island* Alaska Peninsula National Wildlife Refuge * Aniakchak National Monument and Preserve...

 Boroughs of the U.S. state

U.S. state

A U.S. state is any one of the 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government. Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile. Four states use the official title of...

 of Alaska

Alaska

Alaska is the largest state in the United States by area. It is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait...

.

Location

They are located at the northeastern end of the Aleutian range, on the west side of Cook Inlet

Cook Inlet

Cook Inlet stretches from the Gulf of Alaska to Anchorage in south-central Alaska. Cook Inlet branches into the Knik Arm and Turnagain Arm at its northern end, almost surrounding Anchorage....

, roughly 120 miles (200 km) southwest of Anchorage

Anchorage, Alaska

Anchorage is a unified home rule municipality in the southcentral part of the U.S. state of Alaska. It is the northernmost major city in the United States...

. The closest major towns to the range are Kenai

Kenai, Alaska

Kenai is a city in Kenai Peninsula Borough in the U.S. state of Alaska. According to 2005 Census Bureau estimates, the population of the city is 7,464...

 and Homer

Homer, Alaska

Homer is a city located in Kenai Peninsula Borough in the U.S. state of Alaska. According to 2005 Census Bureau estimates, the population was 5,364. One of Homer's nicknames is "the cosmic hamlet by the sea"; another is "the end of the road"...

, across Cook Inlet

Cook Inlet

Cook Inlet stretches from the Gulf of Alaska to Anchorage in south-central Alaska. Cook Inlet branches into the Knik Arm and Turnagain Arm at its northern end, almost surrounding Anchorage....

 on the west side of the Kenai Peninsula

Kenai Peninsula

The Kenai Peninsula is a large peninsula jutting from the southern coast of Alaska in the United States. The name Kenai is probably derived from Kenayskaya, the Russian name for Cook Inlet, which borders the peninsula to the west.-Geography:...

.

To the north, the Chigmits are bordered by the Tordrillo Mountains

Tordrillo Mountains

The Tordrillo Mountains are a small mountain range in the Matanuska-Susitna and Kenai Peninsula Boroughs in the southcentral region of the U.S. state of Alaska. They lie approximately 75 miles west-northwest of Anchorage...

, and on the northwest, by the Neacola Mountains

Neacola Mountains

The Neacola Mountains are the northernmost subrange of the Aleutian Range in Alaska. They are bordered on the southeast by the Chigmit Mountains, on the northeast by the Tordrillo Mountains, on the northwest by the southern tip of the Alaska Range, and on the west and southwest by the lakes and...

. Cook Inlet marks the eastern boundary of the range, while on the west, the mountains fade out into the hills and lowlands of Lake Clark National Park and Preserve

Lake Clark National Park and Preserve

Established in 1980 by the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act, Lake Clark National Park and Preserve is a United States National Park in southwestern Alaska. The park includes many streams and lakes vital to the Bristol Bay salmon fishery...

. On the south and southwest, the Chigmits abut the continuation of the Aleutian Range into the Alaska Peninsula

Alaska Peninsula

The Alaska Peninsula is a peninsula extending about to the southwest from the mainland of Alaska and ending in the Aleutian Islands. The peninsula separates the Pacific Ocean from Bristol Bay, an arm of the Bering Sea....

.

Geological composition

The Chigmits, along with most of the Aleutian Range, are volcanic, and include two prominent stratovolcano

Stratovolcano

A stratovolcano, also known as a composite volcano, is a tall, conical volcano built up by many layers of hardened lava, tephra, pumice, and volcanic ash. Unlike shield volcanoes, stratovolcanoes are characterized by a steep profile and periodic, explosive eruptions...

es, Redoubt Volcano

Mount Redoubt (Alaska)

Mount Redoubt, or Redoubt Volcano, is an active stratovolcano in the largely volcanic Aleutian Range of the U.S. state of Alaska. Located in the Chigmit Mountains , the mountain is just west of Cook Inlet, in the Kenai Peninsula Borough about 180 km southwest of Anchorage...

 (10,197 feet/3,108 m), the high point of the Aleutian Range; and Iliamna Volcano (10,016 feet/3,052 m).