Mount Blue Sky

Mount Blue Sky (previously Mount Evans) is the highest peak in the Mount Evans Wilderness in the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains of North America. The prominent 14,266.1-foot (4,348 m) fourteener is located 13.4 miles (21.6 km) southwest by south (bearing 214°) of Idaho Springs in Clear Creek County, Colorado, United States, on the drainage divide between Clear Creek in Arapaho National Forest and the North Fork South Platte River in Pike National Forest. The peak is one of the characteristic Front Range peaks, dominating the western skyline of the Great Plains along with Pikes Peak, Longs Peak, and nearby Mount Bierstadt. Mount Blue Sky can be seen from over 100 miles (160 km) to the east, and many miles in other directions. Mount Blue Sky dominates the Denver metropolitan area skyline, rising over 9,000 feet (2,700 m) above the area. Mount Blue Sky can be seen from points south of Castle Rock (65 miles or 105 km south), as far north as Fort Collins (95 miles or 153 km north), and from areas near Limon (105 miles or 169 km east). The mountain was previously named for the second governor of the Territory of Colorado, John Evans. However, due to Evans's involvement in the 1864 Sand Creek Massacre, there were years of discussion over renaming Mount Evans. On September 15, 2023, the United States Board on Geographic Names officially changed the mountain's name to Mount Blue Sky.