50 Best Rock Songs About Mountains and Valleys

Best Rock Tracks That Climb Mountains and Fall Into Valleys

There’s something strange about songs that reach high and sink low at the same time. The kind that echo like wind through peaks, then dip into that heavy quiet only valleys seem to hold. Maybe it’s the crash of guitars that sound like weather shifting, or a voice that cracks right when it’s trying not to. These aren’t postcard views or motivational anthems. They’re the tracks that stretch across uneven ground, carrying that mix of awe and exhaustion that comes when you’ve been moving too long.

Some of these tunes talk landscapes, sure, but others only borrow the shape of them. A climb that feels like regret, a drop that feels like release. The metaphors get messy in the best way, where terrain becomes emotion without anyone saying it out loud. You can hear it in how Fleetwood Mac layers harmonies like thin air, or how Kings of Leon stomp through riffs that feel half feral. The same pull runs through pop, rock, country, and R&B songs that trade smooth polish for rough edges. The kind that still feel human when they stumble.

They don’t all stay on the surface either. Some blur sky and soil until you’re not sure which way is up. A few aren’t literally tied to mountains or valleys at all, but they hold the same altitude shifts—the emotional kind that hit you without warning. These are the tracks that hum with that rise-and-fall energy, the ones that sound like motion itself. Here are the best rock songs that climb and fall like mountains and valleys.

1. 'Ventura Highway' by America

2. 'Rocky Mountain High' by John Denver

3. 'The Mountain' by Three Days Grace

4. 'Mountain Song' by Jane's Addiction

5. 'Across the Mountain' by The Cult

6. 'Valleys of Neptune' by Jimi Hendrix

7. 'Mountain of Love' by Harold Dorman

8. 'Down in the Valley' by The Head and the Heart

9. 'Higher Ground' by Red Hot Chili Peppers

10. 'Death Valley Nights' by The Cult

11. 'Mountain Man' by Joe Walsh

12. 'Misty Mountain Hop' by Led Zeppelin

13. 'The Great Gig in the Sky' by Pink Floyd

14. 'King of the Mountain' by Kate Bush

15. 'Smoky Mountain Rain' by Ronnie Milsap

16. 'The Climb' by Miley Cyrus

17. 'Valley Road' by Bruce Hornsby and The Range

18. 'Walk the Line' by Johnny Cash

19. 'Homebound' by Caravan

20. 'Joy to the Mountain' by Hanson

21. 'Mountain at My Gates' by Foals

22. 'Long December' by Counting Crows

23. 'Mountain Dew' by The Stanley Brothers

24. 'The Lonesome Road' by James Taylor

25. 'High and Dry' by Radiohead

26. 'Big Yellow Taxi' by Joni Mitchell

27. 'Mountain Girl' by The Kinks

28. 'Running Down a Dream' by Tom Petty

29. 'River Deep Mountain High' by Ike & Tina Turner

30. 'The Valley of the Damned' by DragonForce

31. 'Colorado' by Grizzly Bear

32. 'The Mountain Song' by Steve Earle

33. 'Mountain Time' by Bob Seger

34. 'The Valley' by Funeral for a Friend

35. 'Long Valley' by Fountains of Wayne

36. 'The Great Divide' by Scott Stapp

37. 'Fire on the Mountain' by The Marshall Tucker Band

38. 'Mount Everest' by Labrinth

39. 'Black Mountain Side' by Led Zeppelin

40. 'Climbing Up the Walls' by Radiohead

41. 'On Top of the World' by Imagine Dragons

42. 'The River' by Bruce Springsteen

43. 'Mountain to the Sea' by Jars of Clay

44. 'Take Me Home, Country Roads' by John Denver

45. 'She'll Be Coming 'Round the Mountain' by Traditional

46. 'Blue Ridge Mountain Blues' by The Stanley Brothers

47. 'Over the Hills and Far Away' by Led Zeppelin

48. 'The Valley' by Beirut

49. 'Snow on the Mountain' by The Allman Brothers Band

50. 'Over the Mountain' by Ozzy Osbourne