San Juan Mountains
Rank Mountain Peak Elevation Prominence Isolation
1 Uncompahgre Peak NGS 4365 m 14,321 ft 1304 m 4,277 ft 136.9 km 85.1 mi
2 Mount Wilson 4344 m 14,252 ft 1227 m 4,024 ft 53.2 km 33.1 mi
3 Mount Sneffels NGS 4315 m 14,158 ft 930 m 3,050 ft 25.3 km 15.73 mi
4 Mount Eolus 4294 m 14,089 ft 665 m 2,183 ft 40.5 km 25.2 mi
5 Handies Peak NGS 4285 m 14,058 ft 575 m 1,888 ft 18 km 11.18 mi
6 San Luis Peak NGS 4274 m 14,022 ft 949 m 3,113 ft 43.4 km 27 mi
7 Vermilion Peak PB 4237 m 13,900 ft 642 m 2,105 ft 14.6 km 9.07 mi
8 Rio Grande Pyramid NGS PB 4214 m 13,827 ft 567 m 1,861 ft 17.31 km 10.76 mi
9 Mount Oso 4173 m 13,690 ft 507 m 1,664 ft 8.81 km 5.47 mi
10 Tower Mountain PB 4132 m 13,558 ft 504 m 1,652 ft 8.62 km 5.36 mi
11 Sultan Mountain PB 4076 m 13,373 ft 569 m 1,868 ft 7.39 km 4.59 mi
12 Summit Peak NGS PB 4056 m 13,307 ft 841 m 2,760 ft 64.2 km 39.9 mi
13 Dolores Peak PB 4053 m 13,296 ft 594 m 1,950 ft 8.02 km 4.98 mi
14 Lavender Peak PB 4037 m 13,245 ft 872 m 2,860 ft 39.9 km 24.8 mi
15 Bennett Peak PB 4026 m 13,209 ft 531 m 1,743 ft 27.5 km 17.1 mi
16 Conejos Peak NGS PB 4017 m 13,179 ft 583 m 1,912 ft 13.12 km 8.15 mi
17 Twilight Peak 4012 m 13,163 ft 713 m 2,338 ft 7.86 km 4.88 mi
18 South River Peak PB 4009 m 13,154 ft 746 m 2,448 ft 35.3 km 22 mi
19 Peak 13,010 PB 3967 m 13,016 ft 546 m 1,790 ft 15.39 km 9.56 mi
20 Lone Cone PB 3846 m 12,618 ft 693 m 2,273 ft 14.97 km 9.3 mi
Prominent peaks
San Juans in the fall of 2008 , viewed from north of Durango Sneffels Range viewed from Ridgway , Colorado Red Mountain Pass Trout Lake near Telluride Twilight Peak Bridal Veil Falls near Telluride
The San Juan Mountains are a high and rugged mountain range in the Rocky Mountains in southwestern Colorado and northwestern New Mexico. The area is highly mineralized (the Colorado Mineral Belt) and figured in the gold and silver mining industry of early Colorado. Major towns, all old mining camps, include Creede, Lake City, Silverton, Ouray, and Telluride. Large scale mining has ended in the region, although independent prospectors still work claims throughout the range. The last large scale mines were the Sunnyside Mine near Silverton, which operated until late in the 20th century and the Idarado Mine on Red Mountain Pass that closed down in the 1970s. Famous old San Juan mines include the Camp Bird and Smuggler Union mines, both located between Telluride and Ouray. The Summitville mine was the scene of a major environmental disaster in the 1990s when the liner of a cyanide-laced tailing pond began leaking heavily. Summitville is in the Summitville caldera, one of many extinct volcanoes making up the San Juan volcanic field. One, La Garita Caldera, is in diameter. Large beds of lava, some extending under the floor of the San Luis Valley, are characteristic of the eastern slope of the San Juans. Tourism is now a major part of the regional economy, with the narrow gauge railway between Durango and Silverton being an attraction in the summer. Jeeping is popular on the old trails which linked the historic mining camps, including the notorious Black Bear Road.