[4] Mount Moss is located 16 miles (26 km) northwest of the community of Durango on land managed by San Juan National Forest.

Topographic relief is significant as the summit rises 3,500 feet (1,100 meters) above the La Plata River in two miles (3.2 km) and 1,600 feet (490 meters) above Owen Basin in one-half mile (0.8 km).

[2] The mountain's toponym has been officially adopted by the United States Board on Geographic Names.

[4] The name was applied by Ferdinand Vandeveer Hayden circa 1875 to honor John Thomas Moss (1839–1880), an American frontiersman, prospector, and miner.

[7] Due to its altitude, it receives precipitation all year, as snow in winter and as thunderstorms in summer, with a dry period in late spring.