The Spanish Peaks are a pair of prominent mountains located in southwestern Huerfano County,

Colorado Colorado is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States. It is one of the Mountain states, sharing the Four Corners region with Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. It is also bordered by Wyoming to the north, Nebraska to the northeast, Kansas ...

. The Comanche people call them Huajatolla ( ) or Wa-ha-toy-yah meaning "double mountain" The two peaks, East Spanish Peak at elevation and West Spanish Peak at elevation , are east of, and separate from, the Culebra Range of the

Sangre de Cristo Mountains The Sangre de Cristo Mountains (Spanish language, Spanish for "Blood of Christ") are the southernmost mountain range, subrange of the Rocky Mountains. They are located in southern Colorado and northern New Mexico in the United States. The mountai ...

. Both of the Spanish Peaks are higher than any point in the United States farther east. The Spanish Peaks are situated due south of Colorado Springs. The Spanish Peaks were formed by two separate shallow (or hypabyssal) igneous intrusions during the Late-

Oligocene The Oligocene ( ) is a geologic epoch (geology), epoch of the Paleogene Geologic time scale, Period that extends from about 33.9 million to 23 million years before the present ( to ). As with other older geologic periods, the rock beds that defin ...

epoch of the Paleogene Period. West Spanish Peak is an older (24.59 +/- 0.13 Ma) quartz syenite. East Spanish Peak (23.36 +/- 0.18 Ma) is composed of a granodiorite porphyry surrounded by a more aerially-extensive exposure of granite porphyry. The granite porphyry represents the evolved upper portion of the magma chamber while the interior granodiorite porphyry is exposed by erosion at the summit. The Spanish Peaks were designated a National Natural Landmark in 1976 as two of the best known examples of igneous dikes. They were an important landmark on the

Santa Fe Trail The Santa Fe Trail was a 19th-century route through central North America that connected Franklin, Missouri, with Santa Fe, New Mexico. Pioneered in 1821 by William Becknell, who departed from the Boonslick region along the Missouri River, the ...

, the first sighting 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 great-circle distance, straight-line distance from the northernmost part of Western Can ...

for travelers on the trail. The mountains can be seen as far north as Colorado Springs (), points south to

Raton, New Mexico Raton ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Colfax County, New Mexico, Colfax County in northeastern New Mexico, United States. The city is located just south of Raton Pass. The city is also located about 6.5 miles south of the New Mexico–Col ...

(), and points on the

Great Plains The Great Plains is a broad expanse of plain, flatland in North America. The region stretches east of the Rocky Mountains, much of it covered in prairie, steppe, and grassland. They are the western part of the Interior Plains, which include th ...

east of Trinidad (up to ). A classic book about travel to the region in the 1840s is ''Wah-to-yah and the Taos Trail,'' by Lewis Garrard. The Spanish Peaks Wilderness area of encompasses the summits of both Spanish peaks. Hiking is popular in the wilderness area.

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National Park Service
Sangre de Cristo Mountains Mountains of Huerfano County, Colorado Mountains of Las Animas County, Colorado National Natural Landmarks in Colorado Stocks (geology) {{Colorado-geo-stub

See also

References

External links