The Top 10 Highest Mountains in the USA and Where to Find Them
From the Rocky Mountains to the Black Mountains, the USA is home to some very impressive mountain ranges and some very, very tall mountains. We find out what the ten highest are based on satellite measurements and some good old-fashioned footwork…
The Top 10 Highest Mountains in the USA and Where to Find Them
Mount Hunter
10 – Mount Hunter located in the Alaska Mountain Range – Peek Elevation: 14,573 ft/4442 m
Often called “Begguya” (which translates as “child”) it is located in the Denali National Park in Alaska and it’s also one of the most complex structures for any other mountain within that region. With a large, low-angled glacier plateau, connecting the North (Main) Summit and the South Summit (13,965 feet or 4,257 m). Then on top of that, it has Long, corniced ridges extend in various directions; between them are exceptionally steep faces making it very unique indeed.
Mount Bear
9 – Mount Bear located in the Saint Elias Mountain Range – Peek Elevation: 14,831 ft/4520 m
This high, glaciated peak located in the Saint Elias Mountains of Alaska has the claim to fame that it is a fourteener, which means it is a mountain peak with an elevation of at least 14,000 feet (4267 meters) of which only 96 are located within the whole of the United States.
8 – Mount Hubbard located in the Saint Elias Mountain Range – Peek Elevation: 14,951 ft/4557 m
Named in 1890 by U.S. Geological Survey geologist Israel Russell after Gardiner Greene Hubbard, Mount Hubbard is the highest point of a large massif with three named summits; the other two are Mount Alverstone and Mount Kennedy.
Mount Fairweather
7 – Mount Fairweather located in the Saint Elias Mountain Range – Peek Elevation: 15,325 ft/4671 m
Officially called Fairweather Mountain it is one of the world’s highest coastal mountains. It was named on May 3rd, 1778 by none other than Captain James Cook!
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Mount Sanford
6 – Mount Sanford located in the Wrangell Mountain Range – Peek Elevation: 16,237 ft/4949 m
This shield volcano in the Wrangell Volcanic Field is also the 3rd highest volcano in the United States behind Mount Bona and Mount Blackburn. Located on the South face of the volcano is the head of the Sanford Glacier which has one of the steepest gradients in North America.
Mount Blackburn
5 – Mount Blackburn located in the Wrangell Mountain Range – Peek Elevation: 16,390 ft/4996 m
Mount Blackburn is an old, eroded shield volcano and the second-highest volcano in the USA. The mountain’s massif is covered entirely by icefields and glaciers which also help to make it the principal source of ice for the Kennicott Glacier, which flows southeast to the town of McCarthy.
Mount Bona
4 – Mount Bona located in the Saint Elias Mountain Range – Peek Elevation: 16,550 ft/5044 m
Mount Bona and its adjacent neighbour Mount Churchill are both large ice-covered stratovolcanoes. A stratovolcano is a conical volcano built up by many layers of hardened lava, tephra, pumice, and volcanic ash.
Mount Foraker
3 – Mount Foraker located in the Alaska Mountain Range – Peek Elevation: 17,400 ft/5304 m
Located in the Denali National Park, it was first successfully climbed on August 6th, 1934 and was named in 1899 by Lt. J. S. Herron after Joseph B. Foraker, then a sitting U.S. Senator from Ohio.
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Mount Saint Elias
2 – Mount Saint Elias located in the Saint Elias Mountain Range – Peek Elevation: 18,009 ft/5489 m
COMount Saint Elias is not only the 2nd highest peak in the USA but also Canada thanks to it being situated on the Yukon and Alaska border. Its name in Tlingit means “mountain behind Icy Bay” and it is most notable for its immense vertical relief.
Denali
1 – Denali, located in the Alaska Mountain Range – Peek Elevation: 20,310 ft/6190 m
Its former official name was “Mount McKinley” and it is said to be home to the third most isolated peak after Mount Everest and Aconcagua! This centrepiece of Denali National Park has been inhabited (around the base) by The Koyukon people for centuries.