The 14,197-foot (4327.24 m) fourteener is located in the Collegiate Peaks Wilderness of San Isabel National Forest, 9.4 miles (15.2 km) west by north (bearing 276°) of Buena Vista, Colorado.

Mount Yale was first climbed by a research team from Harvard University led by Josiah Whitney.

Due to the similarity in heights of Mount Princeton and Mount Yale (Princeton is one foot (0.30 m) higher), it was once a tradition for the alumni of each school to carry rocks to the top of their respective mountain in order to add to the stone pyramid built at the summit.

[citation needed] The standard route for climbing Mount Yale was once Denny Gulch, but overuse turned the trail into both a safety and environmental issue.

The climb up Mount Yale is 9.5 mile long with 4,300 ft elevation gain.