West Beckwith Mountain is a 12,185-foot summit in western Colorado's West Elk Mountains, within the West Elk Wilderness of Gunnison National Forest. Beyond its height, it is significant as a laccolith, a dome-shaped mass of igneous rock created when magma forced its way into layers of Mancos Shale about 30 million years ago. Erosion later wore away the softer rock above and exposed the harder intrusive core, producing the mountain's present shape. As one of more than a dozen laccoliths in the West Elk and nearby Elk Mountains, it reflects a broader geologic pattern that helps define this region's landscape. Historically, it was also known as West Beckwith Peak.