Southern Rocky Mountains Explained

Southern Rocky Mountains
Subdivision1 Type:	States
Elevation:	14,440 feet (4401.2 m)
Elevation Ref:	^[1]
Coordinates:	39.1178°N -106.4454°W

The Southern Rocky Mountains are a major subregion of the Rocky Mountains of North America located in the southeastern portion of the U.S. state of Wyoming, the central and western portions of Colorado, the northern portion of New Mexico, and extreme eastern portions of Utah. The Southern Rocky Mountains are also commonly known as the Southern Rockies, and since the highest peaks are located in the State of Colorado, they are sometimes known as the Colorado Rockies, although many important ranges and peaks rise in the other three states. The Southern Rockies include the highest mountain ranges of the Rocky Mountains and include all 30 of the highest major peaks of the Rockies.

The Southern Rocky Mountains are generally divided from the Western Rocky Mountains by the Green River and the Colorado River below the Green River. The Southern Rockies are divided from the Central Rocky Mountains by South Pass in Wyoming and the drainage running east from the pass down the Sweetwater River and the North Platte River; and the drainage running southwest from the pass down Pacific Creek and Sandy Creek to the Green River. This divide between the Southern Rockies and the Central Rockies provided the lowest elevation traverse of the Rocky Mountain region for the historic Oregon Trail, the Mormon Trail, and the California Trail. The southern end of the Rocky Mountains are considered to be the Jemez Mountains and the southern Sangre de Cristo Mountains of New Mexico. Mountains south of here in N.M. are classified as the Arizona/New Mexico Mountains using the EPA Level III Ecoregions System.

This article defines a significant summit as a summit with at least 100abbr=offNaNabbr=off of topographic prominence, and a major summit as a summit with at least 500abbr=offNaNabbr=off of topographic prominence. An ultra-prominent summit is a summit with at least 1500abbr=offNaNabbr=off of topographic prominence.

All elevations in this article include an elevation adjustment from the National Geodetic Vertical Datum of 1929 (NGVD 29) to the North American Vertical Datum of 1988 (NAVD 88). For further information, please see this United States National Geodetic Survey note.__TOC__

Mountain ranges

The following table lists the mountain ranges and subranges of the Southern Rocky Mountains with their highest summit.

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Highest summit
primary	secondary	tertiary	states	Summit name	Elevation	Prominence	Isolation
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See also: Mountain ranges of Colorado.

Mountain peaks

See also: Mountain peaks of the Rocky Mountains.

Highest summits

The following sortable table lists the 57 mountain peaks of the Southern Rocky Mountains with at least 40001NaN1 of topographic elevation and at least 5001NaN1 of topographic prominence.

The 57 mountain peaks of the Southern Rocky Mountains with at least 4000 meters of
topographic elevation and 500 meters of topographic prominence

!Rank!Mountain Peak!State!Mountain Range!Elevation!Prominence!Isolation

1		Sawatch Range
2		Sawatch Range
3		Collegiate Peaks
4		Sierra Blanca
5		La Plata Peak	Collegiate Peaks
6		San Juan Mountains
7		Crestones
8		Mosquito Range
9		Elk Mountains
10		Front Range
11		Sawatch Range
12		Front Range
13		Front Range
14
15			Collegiate Peaks
16			Collegiate Peaks
17			Elk Mountains
18
19		Capitol Peak	Elk Mountains
20		Pikes Peak Massif
21		Needle Mountains
22			San Juan Mountains
23		Culebra Range
24		San Juan Mountains
25		Sawatch Range
26			Collegiate Peaks
27		Sawatch Range
28			San Juan Mountains
29			Front Range
30			San Juan Mountains
31			Front Range
32		Mount Oso	San Juan Mountains
33			Sawatch Range
34			Front Range
35			Tenmile Range
36		Spanish Peaks
37		Gore Range
38		Mummy Range
39			San Juan Mountains
40			Elk Mountains
41
42		Parry Peak	Front Range
43
44			San Juan Mountains
45			Mosquito Range
46			Sangre de Cristo Range
47		San Juan Mountains
48
49			Sawatch Range
50			Sawatch Range
51			La Plata Mountains
52			Gore Range
53			San Juan Mountains
54			San Juan Mountains
55		Taos Mountains
56
57			San Juan Mountains

Most prominent summits

The following sortable table lists the three ultra prominent summits of the Southern Rocky Mountains (with at least 15001NaN1 of topographic prominence.)

The three ultra-prominent mountain peaks of the Southern Rocky Mountains

!Rank!Mountain Peak!State!Mountain Range!Elevation!Prominence!Isolation

1		Sawatch Range
2		Pikes Peak Massif
3		Sierra Blanca Massif

Most isolated summits

The following sortable table lists the 15 most topographically isolated peaks of the Southern Rocky Mountains with a topographic isolation of at least 502NaN2 and a topographic prominence of at least 5001NaN1.

The 15 mountain peaks of the Southern Rocky Mountains with at least 50 kilometers of
topographic isolation and 500 meters of topographic prominence

!Rank!Mountain Peak!State!Mountain Range!Elevation!Prominence!Isolation

1		Sawatch Range
2		Sierra Blanca Massif
3		San Juan Mountains
4		La Sal Mountains
5		Pikes Peak Massif
6		Front Range
7
8
9		Park Range
10
11		San Juan Mountains
12		Taos Mountains
13		Culebra Range
14
15

Easternmost summits

The following sortable table lists progressively the easternmost Rocky Mountain summits of their respective elevation.

The easternmost high summits of the Rocky Mountains

!Rank!Mountain Peak!State!Mountain Range!Elevation!Prominence!Isolation!Location

1		Raton Mesa	37.0982°N 104.4628°W
2		Spanish Peaks	37.3934°N 104.9201°W
3			37.3756°N 104.9934°W
4		Front Range	38.8405°N 105.0442°W
5		Sangre de Cristo Mountains	37.5775°N 105.4856°W
6		Sawatch Range	38.9244°N 106.3207°W
7			39.1178°N 106.4454°W

Mountain passes

The following sortable table lists the paved mountain passes and highway summits of the Southern Rocky Mountains.

Paved mountain passes and highway summits of the
Southern Rocky Mountains

!Rank!Mountain Pass!State!Elevation!Route

1	Mount Blue Sky Scenic Byway^[4] ^[5]		14,160 feet 4316 m	005
2	Pikes Peak Highway^[6]		14,115 feet 4302 m	999
3	Trail Ridge Road^[7]		12,183 feet 3713 m	034
4	Cottonwood Pass^[8]		12,119 feet 3694 m	209CR 209/ CR 306
5	Independence Pass^[9]		12,095 feet 3687 m	082
6	Loveland Pass		11,992 feet 3655 m	006
7	Hoosier Pass		11,541 feet 3518 m	009
8	Slumgullion Pass		11,361 feet 3463 m	149
9	Fremont Pass		11,318 feet 3450 m	091
10	Berthoud Pass		11,315 feet 3449 m	040
11	Monarch Pass		11,312 feet 3448 m	050
12	Eisenhower Tunnel^[10]		11,158 feet 3401 m	070
13	Warrior Mountain Summit^[11]		11,140 feet 3395 m	103
14	Juniper Pass		11,040 feet 3365 m	103
15	Red Mountain Pass		11,018 feet 3358 m	550
16	Molas Divide		10,910 feet 3325 m	550
17	Spring Creek Pass		10,901 feet 3323 m	149
18	Wolf Creek Pass		10,850 feet 3307 m	160
19	Snowy Range Pass		10,847 feet 3306 m	130
20	Grand Mesa Summit		10,839 feet 3304 m	065
21	Milner Pass		10,758 feet 3279 m	034
22	Vail Pass		10,666 feet 3251 m	070
23	Coal Bank Pass		10,640 feet 3243 m	550
24	Tennessee Pass		10,424 feet 3177 m	024
25	Cameron Pass		10,276 feet 3132 m	014
26	La Manga Pass		10,230 feet 3118 m	017
27	Lizard Head Pass		10,222 feet 3116 m	145
28	North Pass		10,149 feet 3093 m	114
29	Cumbres Pass		10,022 feet 3055 m	017
30	Kenosha Pass		10,001 feet 3048 m	285
31	Red Hill Pass		09,993 feet 3046 m	285
32	Cucharas Pass		09,941 feet 3030 m	012
33	Battle Pass		09,915 feet 3022 m	070
34	Bobcat Pass		09,833 feet 2997 m	038
35	Willow Creek Pass		09,621 feet 2932 m	125
36	Gore Pass		09,527 feet 2904 m	134
37	Wilkerson Pass		09,507 feet 2898 m	024
38	Currant Creek Pass		09,482 feet 2890 m	009
39	Rabbit Ears Pass		09,426 feet 2873 m	040
40	North La Veta Pass		09,413 feet 2869 m	160
41	Trout Creek Pass		09,346 feet 2849 m	024.285
42	Battle Mountain Summit		09,267 feet 2825 m	024
43	Ute Pass		09,165 feet 2793 m	024
44	Wind River Pass		09,148 feet 2788 m	007
45	Black Mesa Summit		09,121 feet 2780 m	092
46	Palo Flechado Pass		09,109 feet 2776 m	064
47	Hardscrabble Pass		09,085 feet 2769 m	096
48	Poncha Pass		09,010 feet 2746 m	285
49	Dallas Divide		08,970 feet 2734 m	062
50	Muddy Pass		08,772 feet 2674 m	040
51	McClure Pass		08,755 feet 2669 m	133
52	Blue Mesa Summit		08,704 feet 2653 m	050
53	Wondervu Hill		08,660 feet 2640 m	072
54	Happy Jack Summit^[12]		08,640 feet 2633 m	080
55	U.S. Hill		08,562 feet 2610 m	518
56	Douglas Pass		08,268 feet 2520 m	139
57	Cerro Summit		07,950 feet 2423 m	050
58	Raton Pass^[13]		07,834 feet 2388 m	025
59	Yellowjacket Pass		07,783 feet 2372 m	160
60	Glorieta Pass		07,557 feet 2303 m	025
61	South Pass^[14]		07,550 feet 2301 m	028
62	Monument Hill		07,343 feet 2238 m	025
63	Morton Pass		07,173 feet 2186 m	034.1
64	Unaweep Divide		07,048 feet 2148 m	141
65	Separation Summit		07,005 feet 2135 m	080
66	Robinson Summit		06,927 feet 2111 m	080

See also

• Lists of mountains
• Mountain peaks of the Rocky Mountains

External links

• National Geodetic Survey (NGS)
  • NGS Datasheets
  • NGVD 29 to NAVD 88 online elevation converter @ NGS
  • Geodetic Glossary @ NGS
• United States Geological Survey (USGS)
  • • • World Mountain Encyclopedia @ peakware.com
• peaklist.org
• summitpost.org

Notes and References

1. KL0637. MOUNT ELBERT. 2019. June 20, 2023.
2. 190505. La Garita Mountains. 19 March 2024.
3. 190045. Cochetopa Hills. 19 March 2024.
4. The state highway up Mount Blue Sky ends about a NaNmiles from the summit. The Mount Blue Sky Scenic Byway is the highest paved highway in North America.
5. This highway is closed during the winter.
6. The toll road up Pikes Peak ends at the summit of the mountain. Pikes Peak is the most visited mountain summit in North America.
7. [Trail Ridge Road]
8. [Cottonwood Pass (Continental Divide)|Cottonwood Pass]
9. This pass lies on the Continental Divide of the Americas.
10. The highest elevation in the Eisenhower Tunnel is a short distance inside the West Portal. The tunnel passes under the Continental Divide a few miles west of Loveland Pass. The Eisenhower Tunnel is the highest elevation on the Interstate Highway System of the United States.
11. The high point near Warrior Mountain is the highest point on Colorado State Highway 103.
12. [Happy Jack Summit]
13. [Raton Pass]
14. [South Pass (Wyoming)|South Pass]