Southern Rocky Mountains

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 ecoregion using the EPA Ecoregions System.

This article defines a significant summit as a summit with at least 100 meters (330 feet) of topographic prominence, and a major summit as a summit with at least 500 meters (1,600 feet) of topographic prominence. An ultra-prominent summit is a summit with at least 1,500 meters (4,900 feet) 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.

Mountain ranges

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