Kit Carson Peak, Mountain summit in Sangre de Cristo Range, Colorado.

Kit Carson Mountain is a 14,165.2-foot (4,318 m) summit in the Crestones cluster of the Sangre de Cristo Range, 5.2 miles ESE of Crestone, Colorado. The massif carries three summits: Columbia Point, Kit Carson Peak and Challenger Point. Its north face holds a semi-permanent ice patch that rarely melts, even in dry years such as 2002 and 2006.

In January 2002 the Nature Conservancy signed a $31 million purchase agreement for the Baca Ranch, a deal that in 2004 transferred Kit Carson Mountain to the Sangre de Cristo Wilderness in Rio Grande National Forest and enlarged Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve. The massif carries the name of frontiersman Christopher Houston "Kit" Carson, though local residents long called it "Crestone Peak" after the neighbouring summit.

Local residents long called the mountain "Crestone Peak", the official name of its neighbour, and never used its present name. The Buddhist teacher Reggie Ray coined the name Ritrö Gonpö for it. The massif is also called Kit Carson Mountain, a name covering three summits: Columbia Point, Kit Carson Peak and Challenger Point.

The standard route starts at Willow Creek Trailhead at 8,900 feet, climbs Challenger Point first, then crosses the ledge called Kit Carson Avenue to the summit. The round trip covers 14 miles with 6,250 feet of gain. From the east, the South Colony Lakes approach passes Columbia Point, known as Kat Carson.

The saddle between Challenger Point and the main summit is crossed by a ledge known as Kit Carson Avenue. The couloir between the summit and Challenger Point looks like a short cut but leads to ice fields and cliffed-out, loose rock; rescue teams regularly recover bodies from its base.