Snowmass Peak in the U.S. state

U.S. state

A U.S. state is any one of the 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government. Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile. Four states use the official title of...

 of Colorado

Colorado

Colorado is a U.S. state that encompasses much of the Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains...

 dominates the view from Snowmass Lake. It is often mistaken for Snowmass Mountain

Snowmass Mountain

Snowmass Mountain is a fourteen thousand foot mountain in the U.S. state of Colorado. It is the thirty-fourth highest mountain peak in the state. It is located in the Elk Mountains, within the Maroon Bells-Snowmass Wilderness of the White River National Forest...

 the thirty-fourth highest mountain peak

Mountain peak

A mountain peak is the highest part of a mountain; a mountaintop; the summit.Mountain Peak may also refer to:* Blue Mountain Peak, Jamaica* Hole in the Mountain Peak, Nevada, USA...

 in the state, as well as for Hagerman Peak. Snowmass Peak is not really a peak but the lower end of Hagerman Peak's east ridge. Natural forced perspective

Forced perspective

Forced perspective is a technique that employs optical illusion to make an object appear farther away, closer, larger or smaller than it actually is. It is used primarily in photography, filmmaking and architecture...

 causes the optical illusion

Optical illusion

An optical illusion is characterized by visually perceived images that differ from objective reality. The information gathered by the eye is processed in the brain to give a perception that does not tally with a physical measurement of the stimulus source...

 that Snowmass Peak is higher than Hagerman Peak though it is actually 221 ft shorter than Hagerman's summit. This illusion combined with its striking rise behind Snowmass Lake justifies it being a named point on USGS topographical maps. It is located in the Elk Mountains

Elk Mountains (Colorado)

The Elk Mountains are a high, rugged mountain range in the Rocky Mountains of west-central Colorado in the United States. The mountains sit on the western side of the Continental Divide, largely in southern Pitkin and northern Gunnison counties, in the area southwest of Aspen, south of the Roaring...

, within the Maroon Bells-Snowmass Wilderness of the White River National Forest

White River National Forest

White River National Forest is a National Forest in northwest Colorado. It is named after the White River that passes through it. It also contains the Flat Tops Wilderness Area, largely considered the birthplace of the U.S...

. It lies along the border between Pitkin

Pitkin County, Colorado

Pitkin County is one of the 64 counties of the State of Colorado of the United States. The county is named in honor of the late Colorado Governor Frederick Walker Pitkin. The county population was 14,872 at U.S. Census 2000. The county seat is Aspen...

 and Gunnison

Gunnison County, Colorado

Gunnison County is the fifth most extensive of the 64 counties of the state of Colorado in the United States. The county population was 15,324 at the 2010 census. The county was named for John W. Gunnison, a United States Army officer and captain in the Army Topographical Engineers, who surveyed...

 counties, west of Aspen

Aspen, Colorado

The City of Aspen is a Home Rule Municipality that is the county seat and the most populous city of Pitkin County, Colorado, United States. The United States Census Bureau estimates that the city population was 5,804 in 2005...

 and southwest of the town of Snowmass Village

Snowmass Village, Colorado

Snowmass Village is a Home Rule Municipality in Pitkin County, Colorado, United States. The population was 1,822 at the 2000 census. A popular winter resort location for skiing and snowboarding, the town is best known as the location of the Snowmass ski area, the largest of the four nearby ski...

.

Hiking/climbing

The route used to climb Snowmass Peak is the Trail Rider Pass trail to Hagerman Peak. This trail can be accessed by Snowmass Creek approach off Divide Road Snowmass Village or the Geneva Lake trail. It is possible to reach the summit by horse between Hagerman Peak and Snowmass Mountain

Snowmass Mountain

Snowmass Mountain is a fourteen thousand foot mountain in the U.S. state of Colorado. It is the thirty-fourth highest mountain peak in the state. It is located in the Elk Mountains, within the Maroon Bells-Snowmass Wilderness of the White River National Forest...

, but is much more difficult.