The Rocky Mountains span from New Mexico to Canada, with Mount Elbert in Colorado being the highest peak. The range is home to various wildlife and has a rich history of exploration and settlement. The range is protected land owned by the US and Canadian governments, with many national parks for conservation and recreation.
The majestic Rocky Mountains begin in New Mexico and stretch as far as Canada, in spots rising approximately 14,000 feet (4,267m) into the clouds. Mount Elbert, Colorado is the highest point in the Rocky Mountain range, at an elevation of 14,433 feet (4,402 m), while Pikes Peak near Colorado Springs reaches 14,110 feet (4,300 m) above sea level. Pike’s Peak attracts more than a million tourists a year, making it the second most visited peak in the world. Wildlife enthusiasts, adventurers and mountaineers travel from all over the world to explore, ski and scale these towering peaks.
Rocky Mountain National Park in Estes Park, Colorado provides natural habitat for 66 species of mammals, including mountain lions, coyotes, moose, wolverines, moose, and the rare lynx. Banff National Park in Canada is home to the golden-mantled ground squirrel, bighorn sheep, hoary marmots, and grizzly and black bears. The largest herds of elk in North America are found in the foothill forests of Alberta-British Columbia. On the US side of the Rocky Mountains, predatory grizzly bears and gray wolves are gradually being reintroduced to their native ranges, along with peregrine falcons and the once nearly extinct bald eagle.
Initially inhabited by Paleo-Indians and indigenous tribes such as the Apache, Ute, Bannock, Sioux, Blackfoot, Cheyenne, and Crow, the Rocky Mountains were later explored by the Spaniard Francisco Vásquez de Coronado in 1540. Two centuries later, French fur traders Pierre and Paul Mallet became the first European to discover this mountain range and nicknamed it the “Rockies” – a name they learned from the local Native American tribes. In 1793, Sir Alexander MacKenzie famously completed the first recorded transcontinental crossing of North America through the Rocky Mountains. The Lewis and Clark Expedition of 1804 to 1806 paved the way for further American exploration and settlement of the range.
More than 100 individual mountain ranges make up the Rocky Mountains, which measure approximately 3,000 miles (4,828 km) from New Mexico to Colorado, Utah, Wyoming and Idaho. The ranges extend north into British Columbia and Alberta, Canada. Interstate 25 serves as the eastern border in the United States, while the Rocky Mountain Trench is the western border in Canada. Much of the range is still unstable to humans and remains protected land owned by the US and Canadian governments for conservation purposes. National parks abound; Yellowstone, Grand Teton, Rocky Mountain National Park and Royal Gorge, Colorado are among the best known in the United States. In Canada, Jasper, Banff, Yoho, Mount Robson, Hamber and Assiniboine National Parks are some of the most popular tourist and recreational destinations in the country.
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