To the north, across the Colorado line, Sleeping Ute Mountain and the snow-capped San Juans are visible.
Despite being much lower than Colorado's highest peaks, Ute Mountain is the eighth most topographically prominent peak in the state, due to this isolation.
The Ute Mountains were formed by intrusion of igneous rocks at about 72 million years (Late Cretaceous), concurrent doming, and subsequent erosion.
The Indian faced the western sky and scrutinized the position of the sun behind Sleeping Ute Mountain.
Yet other nearby ranges, such as the Carrizo Mountains and Ute Mountain, formed about otherwise similar intrusions emplaced about 70 million years ago.
Sleeping Ute Mountain nearby kept watch over the town of Cortez in the valley.
The reservation lands consist of Sleeping Ute Mountain, the Mancos River and canyons, a high mesas and semi-desert grassland.
Against the far-off horizon the Sleeping Ute Mountain bulked large and, nearer, the great shelf of Mesa Verde thrust out, sharp against the sky.
The highway passes by two mountains considered sacred by native Americans, Ute Mountain and an extinct volcanic core named Shiprock.
The highway passes to the east of the tribe's namesake, Ute Mountain, believed to belong to a great warrior god of the Ute People.