Sawatch Range
| Sawatch Range | ||
|---|---|---|
 Mount Elbert with Turquoise Lake in the foreground |
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| Highest peak | Mount Elbert ( 4401 m ) | |
| location | Colorado (USA) | |
| part of | Rocky mountains | |
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| Coordinates | 39 ° 7 ′ N , 106 ° 27 ′ W | |
| particularities | Highest mountain range in Colorado and the entire Rocky Mountains | |
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The Sawatch Range [ səˈwætʃ ] (also Saguache Range ) is a mountain range of the Rocky Mountains in central Colorado . The name comes from the Ute language and means "blue earth" or "water on blue earth". In Spanish, the term saguache is used. The mountain range includes 8 of the 20 highest peaks in the Rockies , including Mount Elbert , the highest in the Rockies at 4401 m .
The mountain range runs over a length of 110 km in NW-SE direction between 39 ° 37 ′ 36 ″ N , 106 ° 32 ′ 1 ″ W in the north and 38 ° 33 ′ 19 ″ N , 106 ° 17 ′ 32 ″ W in the South, along the Continental Divide . The east flank is drained by the Arkansas River , while the west side feeds the Roaring Fork River , Eagle River, and Gunnison River .
Climbing most of the peaks is not technically demanding.
Significant peaks in the Sawatch Range include:
- Mount Elbert , 4401 m
- Mount Massive , 4395 m
- La Plata Peak , 4369 m
- Mount of the Holy Cross , 4271 m
and the Collegiate Peaks -
- Mount Columbia , 4291 m
- Mount Harvard , 4397 m
- Mount Princeton , 4329 m
- Mount Yale , 4329 m
Nearby cities are Leadville 10 miles east and Aspen 20 miles west. The State Highway 82 crosses the mountain range on the Independence Pass , which is only open between late spring and autumn.
The White River National Forest and the Hunter-Fryingpan Wilderness are in the Sawatch Range .
