What is the highest mountain in the Rocky Mountains?

Mount Elbert is the highest mountain in the Rocky Mountains. Located in Colorado's Sawatch Range, it rises to about 14,440 feet (4,401 meters), making it the tallest summit in the entire Rockies.

Mount Elbert is also Colorado's highest point and the highest point in the Mississippi River drainage basin. It stands near Leadville, southwest of the city, among a dense cluster of Colorado fourteeners—mountains exceeding 14,000 feet. Its broad profile and relatively straightforward hiking routes have earned it the nickname “the gentle giant.”

The mountain was named for Samuel Hitt Elbert, Colorado's territorial governor from 1873 to 1874. Henry W. Stuckle recorded the first ascent in 1874 as part of the Hayden Survey. The standard routes are strenuous but generally nontechnical, with substantial elevation gain and rapidly changing alpine weather.

Mount Massive, just to the north, is the Rockies' second-highest summit. A historic dispute over which peak was taller even inspired people to build piles of stones on Mount Massive, but modern measurements firmly place Mount Elbert first.