The prominent 12,965-foot (3,952 m) mountain is located in the Maroon Bells-Snowmass Wilderness of White River National Forest, 6.6 miles (10.7 km) north by northeast (bearing 30°) of the community of Redstone in Pitkin County, Colorado, United States.

[1][2][3][4] Mount Sopris is located in western Pitkin County, south of Carbondale and southwest of the confluence of the Crystal and Roaring Fork rivers.

[9][10] Mount Sopris is believed to have been formed by an igneous intrusion 10,000 feet below the Earth's surface, geologically referred to as a pluton, that occurred around 30 million years ago, after the initial uplift of the modern Rocky Mountains.

In either case, the rock that makes up Sopris never reached the surface, cooling and crystallizing in situ, and later becoming exposed due to erosion.

[11] Mount Sopris dominates the skyline of Carbondale and the lower Roaring Fork Valley, serving as an unofficial symbol of the area.