At 14,110ft elevation, Pikes Peak is not the highest mountain in the US nor even Colorado. But it is arguably the most imposing high peak, probably the most famous, definitely the most accessible. Named in 1806 by Army Lieutenant Zebulon Pike, who declared the mountain unconquerable, it has proven anything but. A railway mounted its flank as early as 1891. Developer Spencer Penrose built a motor road in 1916 and bought the railway in 1925.Visitors today ascend to the Summit House cafe and gift shop via railway, car or foot. The peak is often cold and windy, and snow may fall at any time. But when skies are clear, unrivaled views extend west into the snow-capped Rockies, east across the plains, north to Denver and south to the Sangre de Cristo range.