The 10 highest mountain peaks in the United States, ranked by elevation above sea level — all located in Alaska.
Denali (Mount McKinley) in Alaska is the highest mountain in the United States, at 6,190.5 m (20,310 ft) above sea level. Mount Saint Elias is second at 5,489 m and Mount Foraker third at 5,304 m. The ranking uses elevation of major summits with at least 500 m of prominence, from Wikipedia's List of mountain peaks of the United States, as of October 2026.
The 10 highest mountains in the United States are all located in Alaska, a fact that surprises many who assume the Rockies or the Sierra Nevada hold the country's tallest peaks. Denali alone stands 6,190 meters (20,310 feet) above sea level, making it the tallest mountain in North America and the third most topographically prominent peak on Earth after Everest and Aconcagua. This list covers the 10 highest major summits of the United States (peaks with at least 500 meters of topographic prominence), all of which exceed 4,400 meters (14,500 feet) in elevation. They sit in the Alaska Range, the Wrangell Mountains and the Saint Elias Mountains, some of the most remote and heavily glaciated terrain on the continent.
The highest mountain in North America and the third most topographically prominent peak on Earth. Denali stands 6,190 meters above sea level and rises from a plain at roughly 300 to 900 meters, giving it a base-to-peak height of about 5,500 meters, greater than Everest's. Its latitude (63 degrees N) brings notoriously cold and unpredictable weather.
The second-highest mountain in both the United States and Canada, straddling the Alaska-Yukon border. Its summit rises 5,489 meters (18,009 feet) in just 16 km (10 miles) of horizontal distance from the head of Taan Fjord off Icy Bay, one of the greatest vertical reliefs of any mountain.
Denali's neighbor in the Alaska Range, 23 km (14 miles) to its southwest, Foraker rises almost directly above the standard Kahiltna Glacier base camp used for Denali. It is the second-highest peak in the Alaska Range.
An ice-covered stratovolcano in the Saint Elias Mountains and the highest volcano in the United States. Its massif is almost entirely covered by icefields and is the principal source of the Klutlan Glacier, which flows east for more than 64 km (40 miles) into Canada's Yukon.
The highest peak in the Wrangell Mountains, Mount Blackburn is an old, eroded shield volcano and the second-highest volcano in the US after Mount Bona. Its ice-covered massif feeds the Kennicott Glacier, and its west face drops more than 3,350 meters (11,000 feet) to the Kuskulana Glacier in under 6.4 km (4 miles).
A shield volcano in the Wrangell Volcanic Field and the third-highest volcano in the United States, behind Mount Bona and Mount Blackburn. Its south face rises about 2,400 meters (8,000 feet) in roughly 1.6 km (1 mile) at the head of the Sanford Glacier, one of the steepest gradients in North America.
A peak on the Alaska-British Columbia border, about 20 km (12 miles) from the Pacific Ocean, Mount Fairweather is the highest mountain in British Columbia. It rises dramatically above Glacier Bay, though the stormy weather of the Gulf of Alaska often hides its summit in cloud.
Located on the Alaska-Yukon border, Mount Hubbard is the high point of a massif that also includes Mount Alverstone and Mount Kennedy. It is named after Gardiner Greene Hubbard, the first president of the National Geographic Society. Its west face rises about 2,300 meters (7,500 feet) in under 3.2 km (2 miles), though its eastern side offers a long, non-technical route.
A high, glaciated peak in the Saint Elias Mountains about 6.4 km (4 miles) west of the Yukon border. Surrounded by higher and better-known peaks such as Mount Bona, Mount Lucania and Mount Logan, it is little visited despite a drop of about 2,440 meters (8,000 feet) to the Barnard Glacier in under 8 km (5 miles).
The tenth-highest major summit in the United States, Mount Hunter (Begguya) sits about 13 km (8 miles) south of Denali in the Alaska Range. Though far lower than Denali, it is a harder climb because of its steep faces and corniced ridges, including the Moonflower Buttress.
| # | Name | elevationFeet | state | range | prominence |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Denali (Mount McKinley) | 20310 | Alaska | Alaska Range | 6141 |
| 2 | Mount Saint Elias | 18009 | Alaska / Yukon | Saint Elias Mountains | 3429 |
| 3 | Mount Foraker | 17400 | Alaska | Alaska Range | 2210 |
| 4 | Mount Bona | 16550 | Alaska | Saint Elias Mountains | 2103 |
| 5 | Mount Blackburn | 16390 | Alaska | Wrangell Mountains | 3548 |
| 6 | Mount Sanford | 16237 | Alaska | Wrangell Mountains | 2343 |
| 7 | Mount Fairweather | 15325 | Alaska / British Columbia | Saint Elias Mountains | 3961 |
| 8 | Mount Hubbard | 14951 | Alaska / Yukon | Saint Elias Mountains | 2457 |
| 9 | Mount Bear | 14831 | Alaska | Saint Elias Mountains | 1540 |
| 10 | Mount Hunter | 14573 | Alaska | Alaska Range | 1418 |
Mountains are ranked by topographic elevation (height above sea level) in meters, using the elevations in the table of the 100 highest major summits in Wikipedia's List of mountain peaks of the United States. Only summits with at least 500 meters of topographic prominence are counted, the standard filter for a major summit, so subsidiary tops of the same massif are not listed separately. Elevation, prominence and range are all taken from that one table; feet are converted from the meter values. Summits on the Alaska-Yukon and Alaska-British Columbia borders are included because the table counts them as United States summits. The highest elevation is rank 1, descending to rank 10.
Denali (also known as Mount McKinley) in Alaska is the highest mountain in the United States at 6,190.5 meters (20,310 feet) above sea level. It is also the highest peak in North America.
Mount Whitney in California is the highest peak in the contiguous United States at 4,421 meters (14,505 feet). It is not in the top 10 highest overall US peaks, which are all in Alaska.
Yes. The 10 highest major summits in the United States are all located in Alaska (three of them on the border with Canada). The highest peak outside Alaska, California's Mount Whitney, ranks 11th among major summits.
Three of the top 10 are volcanoes: Mount Bona, Mount Blackburn and Mount Sanford, which are the three highest volcanoes in the United States in that order.
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