The 14,228.3-foot (4,337 m) fourteener is located in San Isabel National Forest, 6.5 miles (10.5 km) north by west (bearing 350°) of the community of Maysville in Chaffee County, Colorado, United States.

The mountain was named in honor of Ute Chief Shavano.

[3][6][2][4] Mount Shavano lies just east of the Continental Divide and just west of the Arkansas River rising 7,200 feet above the town of Salida in Chaffee County to the southeast.

Mount Shavano is famous for the Angel of Shavano, a snow formation in the image of an angel that emerges on the east face of the mountain during snow melt each spring.

The standard route to the top is rated Class 2.