Purple Mountain is a 12,958-foot summit in Colorado’s Elk Mountains, within the Raggeds Wilderness northwest of Crested Butte and managed by Gunnison and White River national forests. It is distinguished by dramatic local relief, with the summit rising 2,960 feet above Middle Anthracite Creek in only 1.2 miles, creating a steep, prominent profile. Runoff from its slopes drains toward the Slate River, the North Fork Gunnison River by way of Middle Anthracite Creek, and Yule Creek, a tributary of the Crystal River. Its name was officially adopted on April 4, 1906, and it lies in an alpine subarctic climate with snowy winters, cool to warm summers, and frequent summer thunderstorms.