Why do mountain ranges tend to run north-south?

Mountain ranges are a result of tectonic plate dynamics. For detailed information on the process see Mountain formation . read more

Mountain ranges run mostly parallel to tectonic plate boundaries. That said, I think you may think that most ranges run North-South taking the Americas into perspective. (The Rocky mountains, the Appalachian mountains, the Andes etc.) But as seen from the image below they follow the norm and run parallel to plate boundaries. read more

Finally, the entire Transverse Range of mountains run east & west. They include SanYnez, San Rafael, Sierra Madre, Topatopa and Santa Susana mountains. That is the story. All but one major mountain range runs north and south, but that one major and several minor ranges do run east and west. read more

The Front Range of the Rocky Mountains in Colorado runs close to north-south, but the chain as a whole slants strongly to the northwest as it runs from New Mexico toward Alaska. And the"north-south" Appalachian Mountains don't run north-south at all, but northeast to southwest. read more