| Keefe Peak | |
| Elevation Ft: | 13532 |
| Elevation Ref: | [1] |
| Prominence Ft: | 497 |
| Isolation Mi: | 1.31 |
| Parent Peak: | Peak 13552 |
| Etymology: | Thomas V. Keefe |
| Country: | United States |
| State: | Colorado |
| Region: | Pitkin |
| Region Type: | County |
| Part Type: | Protected area |
| Part: | Maroon Bells–Snowmass Wilderness |
| Range: | Rocky Mountains Elk Mountains[2] |
| Map: | Colorado#USA |
| Coordinates: | 39.0326°N -106.9042°W |
| Coordinates Ref: | [3] |
| Topo: | USGS Maroon Bells |
| Rock: | Granodiorite[4] |
| Age: | Tertiary |
Keefe Peak is a 13532feet mountain summit in Pitkin County, Colorado, United States.
Keefe Peak is located 17miles west of the Continental Divide in the Elk Mountains which are a subrange of the Rocky Mountains. It ranks as the 238th-highest peak in Colorado.[1] The mountain is situated 11miles south-southwest of the community of Aspen and 2.5miles northwest of Castle Peak. The peak is set in the Maroon Bells–Snowmass Wilderness on land managed by White River National Forest. Precipitation runoff from the mountain's slopes drains into tributaries of the Roaring Fork River which is a tributary of the Colorado River. Topographic relief is significant as the summit rises 3000feet above Conundrum Creek in 1.1miles and 2900feet above East Maroon Creek in 1.6miles.
The mountain's toponym was officially adopted as "Keefe Mountain" on May 6, 1925, by the United States Board on Geographic Names and revised to "Keefe Peak" on February 2, 1927.[3] The US Forest Service made the suggestion to commemorate one of their former employees, Lieutenant Thomas Victor Keefe (1888–1918), who died while serving in the US Army.[3] The peak is within the territory he served the Forest Service as a deputy forest supervisor. He was born and raised in Blossburg, Pennsylvania, and graduated from Pennsylvania State College in 1913 with a Bachelor of Science degree in forestry.[5]
According to the Köppen climate classification system, Keefe Peak is located in an alpine subarctic climate zone with cold, snowy winters, and cool to warm summers.[6] Due to its altitude, it receives precipitation all year, as snow in winter, and as thunderstorms in summer, with a dry period in late spring.