Pikes Peak

Pikes Peak, a 14,115-foot summit in Colorado’s Front Range above Manitou Springs and Colorado Springs, is the easternmost fourteener in the United States and a dominant landmark of the plains-to-mountains horizon. Long revered by Indigenous peoples, it was known by names including Tava, Heey-otoyoo’, and Tûs Pêh before Spanish explorers called it El Capitán. Zebulon Pike failed to reach the summit in 1806, but Edwin James made the first documented ascent in 1820. The mountain later became a symbol of the Colorado gold rush, inspired “America the Beautiful,” and developed into a major destination for rail travel, hiking, racing, and high-altitude research.

Colorado · United States