  the sangre de cristo range, called the east range locally in the san luis valley, is a high, rugged and narrow mountain range of the rocky mountains in southern colorado in the united states, running north and south along the east side of the rio grande rift . the mountains extend southeast from poncha pass for about 75 miles (120&nbsp;km) through south-central colorado to la veta pass, approximately 20 miles (32&nbsp;km) west of walsenburg, and form a high ridge separating the san luis valley on the west from the watershed of the arkansas river on the east. the sangre de cristo range rises over 7,000 feet above the valleys and plains to the west and northeast. according to the usgs, the range is the northern part of the larger sangre de cristo mountains, which extend through northern new mexico. usage of the terms "sangre de cristo range" and "sangre de cristo mountains" is varied; however this article discusses only the mountains between poncha pass and la veta pass. ==notable peaks== {| class="wikitable sortable" align="center" |+major peaks of the sangre de cristonamed peaks over  |- !peak name !elevation !prominence |- |blanca peak {{cite web |url=http://www.peakbagger.com/peak.aspx?pid=5921 |
Landforms_of_Custer_County,_Colorado Landforms_of_Saguache_County,_Colorado Mountain_ranges_of_Colorado Ranges_of_the_Rocky_Mountains San_Luis_Valley_of_Colorado Sangre_de_Cristo_Mountains Sangre_de_Cristo_National_Heritage_Area