This is a list of the major

mountain range A mountain range or hill range is a series of mountains or hills arranged in a line and connected by high ground. A mountain system or mountain belt is a group of mountain ranges with similarity in form, structure, and alignment that have ari ...

s in the

U.S. The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

State of Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the ...

. All of these ranges are considered subranges of the

Southern Rocky Mountains 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 ...

. As given in the table,

topographic elevation The elevation of a geographic location is its height above or below a fixed reference point, most commonly a reference geoid, a mathematical model of the Earth's sea level as an equipotential gravitational surface (see Geodetic datum § Ve ...

is the vertical distance above the reference

geoid The geoid () is the shape that the ocean surface would take under the influence of the gravity of Earth, including gravitational attraction and Earth's rotation, if other influences such as winds and tides were absent. This surface is extended ...

, a mathematical model of the Earth's sea level as an equipotential

gravitational In physics, gravity () is a fundamental interaction which causes mutual attraction between all things with mass or energy. Gravity is, by far, the weakest of the four fundamental interactions, approximately 1038 times weaker than the str ...

surface. The

topographic prominence In topography, prominence (also referred to as autonomous height, relative height, and shoulder drop in US English, and drop or relative height in British English) measures the height of a mountain or hill's summit relative to the lowest contou ...

of a

summit A summit is a point on a surface that is higher in elevation than all points immediately adjacent to it. The topographic terms acme, apex, peak (mountain peak), and zenith are synonymous. The term (mountain top) is generally used only for a m ...

is the elevation difference between that summit and the highest or key

col In geomorphology, a col is the lowest point on a mountain ridge between two peaks.Whittow, John (1984). ''Dictionary of Physical Geography''. London: Penguin, 1984, p. 103. . It may also be called a gap. Particularly rugged and forbidding co ...

to a higher summit. The

topographic isolation The topographic isolation of a summit is the minimum distance to a point of equal elevation, representing a radius of dominance in which the peak is the highest point. It can be calculated for small hills and islands as well as for major mounta ...

of a summit is the minimum

great-circle distance The great-circle distance, orthodromic distance, or spherical distance is the distance along a great circle. It is the shortest distance between two points on the surface of a sphere, measured along the surface of the sphere (as opposed to a st ...

to a point of equal elevation. All elevations in this article include an elevation adjustment from the

National Geodetic Vertical Datum of 1929 The National Geodetic Vertical Datum of 1929 is the official name since 1973 of the vertical datum established for vertical control surveying in the United States of America by the General Adjustment of 1929. Originally known as Sea Level Dat ...

(NGVD 29) to the

North American Vertical Datum of 1988 The North American Vertical Datum of 1988 (NAVD 88) is the vertical datum for orthometric heights established for vertical control surveying in the United States of America based upon the General Adjustment of the North American Datum of 1988. ...

(NAVD 88). For further information, please see this

United States National Geodetic Survey The National Geodetic Survey (NGS) is a United States federal agency that defines and manages a national coordinate system, providing the foundation for transportation and communication; mapping and charting; and a large number of applications ...

br>note
If an elevation or prominence is calculated as a range of values, the

arithmetic mean In mathematics and statistics, the arithmetic mean ( ) or arithmetic average, or just the '' mean'' or the ''average'' (when the context is clear), is the sum of a collection of numbers divided by the count of numbers in the collection. The co ...

is shown. __TOC__

Mountain ranges

Gallery

Image:Mount_Elbert_June_2006.jpg,

Mount Elbert Mount Elbert is the highest summit of the Rocky Mountains, the highest point in the U.S. state of Colorado, and the second-highest summit in the contiguous United States (after Mount Whitney). The ultra-prominent fourteener is the highest pea ...

is the highest peak of the Sawatch Range and the entire

Rocky Mountains The Rocky Mountains, also known as the Rockies, are a major mountain range and the largest mountain system in North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch in straight-line distance from the northernmost part of western Canada, to New Mexico ...

. Image:Mount Harvard (Colorado) - 2006-07-16.jpg,

Mount Harvard Mount Harvard is the third highest summit of the Rocky Mountains of North America and the U.S. state of Colorado. The prominent fourteener is the highest summit of the Collegiate Peaks and the fourth highest summit in the contiguous United S ...

is the highest of the

Collegiate Peaks The Collegiate Peaks (or Collegiate Range) is a name given to a section of the Sawatch Range of the Rocky Mountains located in central Colorado. Drainages to the east include headwaters of the Arkansas River The Arkansas River is a major tribu ...

and the third-highest peak of the

. Image:MtBlancaEast.jpg,

Blanca Peak Blanca Peak (Navajo: ) is the fourth highest summit of the Rocky Mountains of North America and the U.S. state of Colorado. The ultra-prominent peak is the highest summit of the Sierra Blanca Massif, the Sangre de Cristo Range, and the Sangr ...

is the highest peak of the

Sangre de Cristo Mountains The Sangre de Cristo Mountains ( Spanish for " Blood of Christ") are the southernmost subrange of the Rocky Mountains. They are located in southern Colorado and northern New Mexico in the United States. The mountains run from Poncha Pass in South- ...

and the fifth-highest peak of the

. Image:Uncompahgre peak.jpg, Uncompahgre Peak is the highest peak of the

San Juan Mountains The San Juan Mountains is a high and rugged mountain range in the Rocky Mountains in southwestern Colorado and northwestern New Mexico. The area is highly mineralized (the Colorado Mineral Belt) and figured in the gold and silver mining industry ...

and the sixth-highest peak of the

. Image:Crestone peaks fall.jpg,

Crestone Peak Crestone Peak is the seventh-highest summit of the Rocky Mountains of North America and the U.S. state of Colorado. The prominent fourteener is the highest summit of the Crestones and the second-highest summit in the Sangre de Cristo Range ...

is the highest peak of the

Crestones The Crestones are a group of four 14,000 foot (4,268 m) peaks ( fourteeners) in the Sangre de Cristo Range above Crestone, central southern Colorado, comprising: # Crestone Peak (14,294 ft, 4,357 m) # Crestone Needle (14,197 ft, 4,327 m) ...

and the seventh-highest peak of the

. Image:Mt_Lincoln.jpg, Mount Lincoln is the highest peak of the

Mosquito Range The Mosquito Range (elevation approximately 14,000 ft) is a high mountain range in the Rocky Mountains of central Colorado in the United States. The peaks of the range form a ridge running north–south for roughly 40 mi (64 km) fr ...

and the eighth-highest peak of the

. Image:Castle Peak CO Full.JPG, Castle Peak is the highest peak of the Elk Mountains and the ninth-highest peak of the

. Image:Grays and Torreys Peaks 2006-08-06.jpg,

Grays Peak Grays Peak is the tenth-highest summit of the Rocky Mountains of North America and the U.S. state of Colorado. The prominent fourteener is the highest summit of the Front Range and the highest point on the Continental Divide and the Conti ...

is the highest peak of the

Front Range The Front Range is a mountain range of the Southern Rocky Mountains of North America located in the central portion of the U.S. State of Colorado, and southeastern portion of the U.S. State of Wyoming. It is the first mountain range encountered ...

and the tenth-highest peak of the

. Image:Mt Antero from Mt Shavano, CO.jpg,

Mount Antero Mount Antero is the highest summit of the southern Sawatch Range of the Rocky Mountains of North America. The prominent fourteener is located in San Isabel National Forest, southwest by south ( bearing 208°) of the Town of Buena Vista in ...

is the highest peak of the Southern Sawatch Range. Image:MtEvansCO.jpg, Mount Evans is the highest peak of the Northern

. File:Wilson Peak and San Miguel Mountains.jpg, Mount Wilson is the highest peak of the

San Miguel Mountains The San Juan Mountains is a high and rugged mountain range in the Rocky Mountains in southwestern Colorado and northwestern New Mexico. The area is highly mineralized (the Colorado Mineral Belt) and figured in the gold and silver mining industry ...

. Image:Mount Sneffels.jpg,

Mount Sneffels Mount Sneffels is the highest summit of the Sneffels Range in the Rocky Mountains of North America. The prominent fourteener is located in the Mount Sneffels Wilderness of Uncompahgre National Forest, west by south ( bearing 256°) of the ...

is the highest peak of the

Sneffels Range The Sneffels Range, regionally conterminous with San Juans, is a young, prominent, and rugged range of mountains in southwestern Colorado of the San Juan Mountains. The Sneffels range form the southern border of Ouray County and run west to east. ...

. Image:Pikes Peak from the Garden of the Gods.jpg,

Pikes Peak Pikes Peak is the highest summit of the southern Front Range of the Rocky Mountains, in North America. The ultra-prominent fourteener is located in Pike National Forest, west of downtown Colorado Springs, Colorado. The town of Manitou S ...

is the highest peak of the Southern

. The mountain was the inspiration for "

America the Beautiful "America the Beautiful" is a patriotic American song. Its lyrics were written by Katharine Lee Bates and its music was composed by church organist and choirmaster Samuel A. Ward at Grace Episcopal Church in Newark, New Jersey. The two neve ...

". Image:Mount of the Holy Cross.jpeg,

Mount of the Holy Cross Mount of the Holy Cross is a high and prominent mountain summit in the northern Sawatch Range of the Rocky Mountains of North America. The fourteener is located in the Holy Cross Wilderness of White River National Forest, west-southwest ( bea ...

is the highest peak of the Northern Sawatch Range. This photograph was taken by

William Henry Jackson William Henry Jackson (April 4, 1843 – June 30, 1942) was an American photographer, Civil War veteran, painter, and an explorer famous for his images of the American West. He was a great-great nephew of Samuel Wilson, the progenitor of Am ...

in 1874. Image:Utemountain.JPG,

Ute Peak Ute or UTE may refer to: * Ute (band), an Australian jazz group * Ute (given name) * ''Ute'' (sponge), a sponge genus * Ute (vehicle), an Australian and New Zealand term for certain utility vehicles * Ute, Iowa, a city in Monona County along the ...

is the highest peak of Ute Mountain. Image:Devil's Head Stairs.jpg, Devils Head is the highest peak of the

Rampart Range The Rampart Range is a mountain range in Douglas, El Paso, and Teller counties, Colorado. It is part of the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains. The range is almost entirely public land within the Pike National Forest The Pike National Forest ...

Notes

References

External links

United States Geological Survey (USGS)

Geographic Names Information System @ USGSUnited States National Geodetic Survey (NGS)

Geodetic Glossary @ NGS

NGVD 29 to NAVD 88 online elevation converter @ NGS

Survey Marks and Datasheets @ NGSBivouac.comPeakbagger.comPeaklist.orgSummitpost.org
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mountain ranges of Colorado, List of Mountains of Colorado Lists of landforms of Colorado Colorado, List of mountain ranges of Colorado, List of mountain ranges of Colorado, List of mountain ranges of

Mountain ranges

Gallery

See also

Notes

References

External links