Mount Princeton is a high and prominent

mountain A mountain is an elevated portion of the Earth's crust, generally with steep sides that show significant exposed bedrock. Although definitions vary, a mountain may differ from a plateau in having a limited summit area, and is usually higher t ...

summit A summit is a point on a surface that is higher in elevation than all points immediately adjacent to it. The topographic terms acme, apex, peak (mountain peak), and zenith are synonymous. The term (mountain top) is generally used only for a m ...

of the

Collegiate Peaks The Collegiate Peaks (or Collegiate Range) is a name given to a section of the Sawatch Range of the Rocky Mountains located in central Colorado. Drainages to the east include headwaters of the Arkansas River. The Collegiate Peaks include some ...

in the Sawatch Range of the

Rocky Mountains The Rocky Mountains, also known as the Rockies, are a major mountain range and the largest mountain system in North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch in straight-line distance from the northernmost part of western Canada, to New Mexico in ...

of North America. The

fourteener In the mountaineering parlance of the Western United States, a fourteener is a mountain peak with an elevation of at least . The 96 fourteeners in the United States are all west of the Mississippi River. Colorado has the most (53) of any sing ...

is located in San Isabel National Forest, southwest ( bearing 225°) of the Town of Buena Vista in

Chaffee County Chaffee County is a county located in the U.S. state of Colorado. As of the 2020 census, the population was 19,476. The county seat is Salida. History Chaffee County has a confusing origin. Between February 8 and February 10, 1879, Carbonate ...

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the wes ...

, United States. The mountain was named in honor of

Princeton University Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the n ...

Mountain

While not one of the highest peaks of the Sawatch Range, Mount Princeton is one of the most dramatic, abruptly rising nearly 7,000 feet above the

Arkansas River The Arkansas River is a major tributary of the Mississippi River. It generally flows to the east and southeast as it traverses the U.S. states of Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Arkansas. The river's source basin lies in the western United S ...

valley in only 6 miles.Mount Princeton on Summitpost
/ref> The first recorded ascent was on July 17, 1877, at 12:30 pm by

William Libbey William A. Libbey III (March 27, 1855 – September 6, 1927) was an American professor of physical geography at Princeton University. He was twice a member of the U.S. Olympic Rifle Team, and rose to the rank of colonel in the New Jersey Nationa ...

.Merritt, J. I. (1997) "The Once and Future Mountain" ''Princeton Alumni Weekly'' Princeton University
/ref> It is likely that various miners had climbed the peak earlier.
/ref> The name ''Mount Princeton'' was in use as early as 1873, and the peak was most likely named by

Henry Gannett Henry Gannett (August 24, 1846 – November 5, 1914) was an American geographer who is described as the "father of mapmaking in America."Evans, Richard Tranter; Frye, Helen M. (2009).History of the Topographic Branch (Division) (PDF). ''U.S. Geo ...

, a Harvard graduate and chief topographer in a government survey led by George M. Wheeler.Borneman, Walter R. and Lampert, Lyndon J. (1994) ''A Climbing Guide to Colorado's Fourteeners'' (3rd ed.) Pruett, Boulder, Colorado,

Historical names

*Chalk Peak *Mount Princeton – 1906 *Princeton Mountain

References

External links

Mt. Princeton on 14ers.com

Princeton Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the ni ...

San Isabel National Forest

{{Colorado-geo-stub

Mountain

Historical names

See also

References

External links