The Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta is an isolated mountain range in northern Colombia, separate from the Andes range that runs through the centre of the country. Reaching an altitude of 5,700 m just 42 km from the Caribbean coast, the Sierra Nevada is the highest coastal range in the tropics, and one of the highest coastal ranges in the world, being 250 metres shorter than the Saint Elias Mountains in Canada. The Sierra Nevada encompasses about 17,000 km² and serves as the source of 36 rivers. The range is in the Departments of Magdalena, Cesar and La Guajira.
The highest point of the Sierra Nevada group may be either Pico Cristóbal Colón or Pico Simón Bolívar both in the municipalities of Santa Marta and Aracataca; it has yet to be determined which is higher. SRTM data and local topographic maps show that their true elevations are approximately 5,700 m, lower than the 5,775 m elevation that is often quoted.
The Sierra Nevada is a compact group, relatively small in area, and completely surrounded by lands with elevations below 200 m.