Sawatch Range

The Sawatch Range is a mountain range in central Colorado, forming part of the Rocky Mountains. It contains several of Colorado’s highest peaks, including Mount Elbert and Mount Massive.

Mount Elbert: At 14,440 feet, Mount Elbert is Colorado’s highest summit and the highest point in the Rocky Mountains. It is the Sawatch Range’s tallest peak and Colorado’s highest point.
Rocky Mountains: The Rocky Mountains are a major mountain system extending from western Canada through the western United States. The Sawatch Range is one of the central Colorado ranges within this system.
Collegiate Peaks Wilderness: Collegiate Peaks Wilderness is a federally protected area in Colorado’s Sawatch Range, encompassing high peaks and alpine terrain. It protects a large section of the range’s high country.
Laramide orogeny: The Laramide orogeny was a mountain-building episode that uplifted much of the western interior of North America. It helped raise the region that later erosion shaped into the Sawatch landscape.
Front Range: The Front Range is the easternmost major mountain range of the Southern Rocky Mountains in Colorado. It lies east of the Sawatch and is separated from it by high basins and ranges.
Mount Massive: Mount Massive is a 14,421-foot peak in Colorado’s Sawatch Range, the state’s second-highest mountain. Its broad summit ridge gives the range its second-highest peak.
Fourteener: A fourteener is a mountain summit at least 14,000 feet above sea level. Numerous Sawatch summits exceed this elevation threshold.
Mount Massive Wilderness: Mount Massive Wilderness is a protected area in Colorado’s Sawatch Range, centered on Mount Massive. Its boundaries safeguard the range’s second-highest mountain and surrounding terrain.
Ancestral Rocky Mountains: The Ancestral Rocky Mountains were an older mountain system uplifted in the southwestern United States during the late Paleozoic. Their ancient uplift contributed rocks later exposed across central Colorado.
Elk Mountains: The Elk Mountains are a rugged mountain range in west-central Colorado, including the Maroon Bells. They lie west of the Sawatch and have a more jagged, sedimentary-rock profile.

Linked from 1 page