The White Mountains is a 115-km-long (70 mi) mountain range

Mountain range

A mountain range is a single, large mass consisting of a succession of mountains or narrowly spaced mountain ridges, with or without peaks, closely related in position, direction, formation, and age; a component part of a mountain system or of a mountain chain...

 in the Yukon-Koyukuk Census Area

Yukon-Koyukuk Census Area, Alaska

Yukon-Koyukuk Census Area is a census area located in the state of Alaska, United States. As of the 2010 census, the population was 5,588. It is part of the unorganized borough and therefore has no borough seat...

 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...

. It lies between Beaver Creek

Beaver Creek (Alaska)

Beaver Creek is a clear water river in Alaska. Its headwaters are in the White Mountains, and from there it flows through the Yukon Flats National Wildlife Refuge before joining the Yukon River....

 and Preacher Creek, and was named by prospectors for its composition of white limestone

Limestone

Limestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of calcium carbonate . Many limestones are composed from skeletal fragments of marine organisms such as coral or foraminifera....

. The range reaches a maximum elevation of 968 m (3176 ft). Some of the range is located in White Mountains National Recreation Area, a 1 million acres (4,046.9 km²) of wilderness just 30 miles (48.3 km) north of Fairbanks. The White Mountains and Ray Mountains

Ray Mountains

The Ray Mountains is a mountain range in central Alaska named for the Ray River, itself named for U.S. Navy Captain Patrick Henry Ray, who established a meteorological station in Barrow, Alaska in 1881. The mountains are located within the Yukon-Tanana Uplands, an area of low mountain ranges that...

 together constitute the Yukon-Tanana Uplands, an area of low mountain ranges and high ground in Interior Alaska.

Sources