The Peaks have traditional and religious significance to American Indian tribes including the Apache, Comanche, and Ute.

This is widely reported to be a Ute name meaning "breasts of the earth", but is in fact a Comanche name translating to "double mountain".

[4] The Spanish Peaks are geologically distinct from the faulted and uplifted mountains of the Sangre de Cristo range to the west.

They are easily visible from the highway north of the peaks (and west of Walsenburg), and pictures of them have been used as type examples in more than one introductory geology textbook.

Several can be easily seen up close on back dirt roads, and one (Apishapa Arch) on the south side of the peaks can actually be driven through.