Denver is located on an urban corridor bounded on the west by the Front Range mountains, a part of the Southern Rockies. Pike's Peak is one of 54 Colorado 'fourteeners' and the tallest in the Southern Rockies front range. The Front Range Urban Corridor runs north-south including Colorado Springs, Denver, Boulder and Fort Collins. To the east is the western edge (High Plains) of the Great Plains.
    Denver was founded in 1858 on the site of placer gold discoveries. The gold strike quickly dried up, but this high plains area continues to grow and be a source of natural resources and minerals.