{{Short description|Mountain in the American state of California}} {{Use mdy dates|date=February 2026}} {{Use American English|date=February 2026}} {{Infobox mountain | name = Ritter Range | image = Ritter Range.jpg | image_size = | image_caption = Mount Davis and the Ritter Range | country = United States | state = California | region = Ansel Adams Wilderness | district_type = County | district = Madera County <!-- *** Orography *** --> | parent = Sierra Nevada | age = Cretaceous | length_mi = 15 | length_orientation = NS | width_mi = 9 | width_orientation = EW | range_coordinates = {{coord|37.6938223|N|119.1979189|W|type:mountain|format=dms|display=inline,title}} | range_coordinates_ref=<ref name="gnis"/> | coordinates= | coordinates_ref= | highest = Mount Ritter | elevation_ft = 13143 | elevation_ref= | map = USA California | map_relief = yes | map_size = 220 | map_caption = Location of Ritter Range in California<ref name="gnis">{{cite gnis|id=265436|name=Ritter Range|accessdate=2009-05-04}}</ref> }}
The '''Ritter Range''' is a small mountain range within California's Sierra Nevada. Most of the mountain range lies within the Ansel Adams Wilderness.
The John Muir Trail passes by many lakes within the Ritter Range. The most prominent peaks of the Ritter Range are Mount Ritter, at 13,143 feet, Banner Peak, at 12,936 feet, Rodgers Peak, and the Minarets, a group of sharp peaks south of Mt. Ritter. Thousand Island Lake, Ediza Lake, Garnet Lake, Lake Catherine, Minaret Lake, Cecile Lake, and Shadow Lake all lie within the Ritter Range, and are accessible by trail.
The range is named for Carl Ritter, who had been a teacher of Josiah Whitney when he was a student in Berlin in the 1840s."<ref>Browning, Peter (1986) ''Place Names of the Sierra Nevada.'' Berkeley: Wilderness Press. p. 183.</ref>
The Ritter Range, near the Minarets and Minaret Lake, was the site of the plane crash of Steve Fossett in 2007.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/plane-wreckage-fossett-s-bone-fragment-found-3191843.php|title=Plane wreckage Fossett's - bone fragment found|publisher=San Francisco Chronicle|date=October 3, 2008 | first=Kevin | last=Fagan}}</ref>
==See also== * Volcanic Ridge * Iron Mountain
==References== {{reflist}}
Category:Mountain ranges of the Sierra Nevada (United States) Category:Mountain ranges of Madera County, California Category:Mountain ranges of Northern California
{{MaderaCountyCA-geo-stub}}