Top 10 Highest Mountains in North America

Mountain. Photo: Mixi's

Made up of 23 countries, North America is the world’s third-largest continent. Out of these 23 countries though, it’s just the USA, Mexico, and Canada that have mountains high enough to feature here. Oh and, FYI, it’s not just traditional mountain peaks like Denali making up this collection. There are also three very big stratovolcanoes to be discussed.

In North America, the 19,685 ft or 6000 m tall Mount Denali is the tallest mountain. The next three tallest peaks are taller than 5,500 m while 21 peaks are greater than 4,500 m tall. Of the 200 tallest peas of North America, 160 are found in the US and 30 in Canada. Mexico has the next highest number of tallest peaks in the continent with 11 peaks in the top 200. Seven of North America’s 200 tallest summits lie on the border between the US and Canada.

The List of 10 Highest Mountain in North America

1. Denali - 6,190 metres

2. Mount Logan - 5,959 metres

3. Pico De Orizaba - 5,636 metres

4. Mount Saint Elias - 5,489 metres

5. Popocatépetl - 5,426 metres

6. Mount Foraker - 5,304 metres

7. Mount Lucania - 5,260 metres

8. Iztaccihuatl - 5,230 metres

9. King Peak - 5,173 metres

10. Mount Steele - 5,073 metres

What are the Highest Mountain In North America?

1. Denali - 6,190 metres

Photo: Wikipedia

Location: Alaska (United States)

Rising 20,310 feet (6,190 meters) , Denali is the United States’ highest mountain. Denali is also the highest mountain in North America and is the third highest mountain of the Seven Summits (a hiking term for the tallest mountain on each continent) after Mount Everest and Aconcagua.

Located in the Alaska Range, Denali and the mountains around it were formed from dramatic tectonic activity that continues to increase the mountain’s elevation little by little every year.

Denali is the Koyukon Athabaskan word meaning ‘the tall one,’ and the mountain holds great significance for indigenous Alaskans who have resided around it since time immemorial.

Additionally, Denali National Park and Preserve is one of the most visited locations in Alaska, bringing tourists in from around the world during the summer months. Many animals including wolves, moose, caribou, black bear and grizzly bear can be seen from the park’s singular road.

2. Mount Logan - 5,959 metres

Photo: mpora

Location: Yukon (Canada)

Second on the list and the highest mountain in Canada, Mount Logan sits just 40 kilometres north of the Alaskan – Canadian border. It’s a real beast of a mountain, taking sixth place in the world’s most prominent peaks. It’s also thought to have one of the largest base circumferences of any of the non-volcanic mountains on earth.

Whilst the 5,959 metre height has been established, Mount Logan is still rising in height, due to tectonic activity below. Before 1992 in fact, the exact height of Mount Logan was unconfirmed.

3. Pico De Orizaba - 5,636 metres

Photo: mpora

Location: Puebla (Mexico)

Highest mountain in Mexico, Pico de Orizaba is a dormant stratovolcano and is the second highest volcanic peak in the world – behind Kilimanjaro – Africa’s highest mountain.

Pico de Orizaba is visible to ships that are approaching the port of Veracruz. It is one of three volcanos in the world that still hold a glacier. One of the glaciers on Pico de Orizaba, the Gran Glacier Norte, is the largest glacier in Mexico (there are eight other known glaciers on the volcano).

4. Mount Saint Elias - 5,489 metres

Photo: - Wikimedia Commons

Mount Saint Elias straddles the Alaska/Canadian border in the Saint Elias Mountain Range in northern southeast Alaska. At 18,009 feet (5,489 meters), it is the second highest mountain in the United States and in Canada behind Mount Logan.

Mount Saint Elias, on the US side is part of the Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve, the largest National Park in the United States. Nine of the 16 highest peaks in the United States are found in this National Park.

This mountain range is located near Glacier Bay, which has a high density of glaciers and icefields as well as tectonic and volcanic activity that has helped make this mountain range popular for modern and past exploration.

Mount Saint Elias is called Yasʼéitʼaa Shaa or Shaa Tlein by the indigenous Yakutat Tlingit people who have lived in the area for thousands of years. Mount Saint Elias saw its first recorded summit in 1897 by an Italian expedition.

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5. Popocatépetl - 5,426 metres

Photo: mpora

Location: Puebla (Mexico)

Look southwest of Mexico City during a clear day and you’ll be able to make out the stratovolcano of Popocatépetl – North America’s fifth highest peak and Mexico’s second highest summit.

Just like the larger volcano on this list, Pico de Orizaba, Popocatépetl also held glaciers on its summit flanks. However, due to increased volcanic activity these glaciers quickly retreated between 1990 and 2001 to the point where all of the glaciers had melted.

Speaking of volcanic activity, Popocatépetl has been erupting and spewing lava as recently as July 18th 2019 – when it erupted three times, sending ash 1.5 kilometres into the air.

6. Mount Foraker - 5,304 metres

Photo: SummitPost

Location: Alaska (United States)

On a clear day, Mount Foraker can be seen in tandem with Denali in the Alaska Range.

Mount Foraker is the third highest peak in the United States with an elevation of 17,400 feet (5304 meters).

The indigenous Dena’ina names for Mount Foraker are Sultana, meaning ‘the woman,’ or Menlale, meaning ‘Denali’s wife’ due to its close proximity to Denali.

The first recorded successful summiting of the north and south peaks occurred in 1934. The mountain is located on a fork of the Kahiltna Glacier, the longest glacier in the Alaska Range, across from Denali and Mount Hunter.

7. Mount Lucania - 5,260 metres

Photo: mpora

Location: Yukon (Canada)

Mount Lucania is the third-highest mountain in Canada, and the second-highest mountain located entirely within the country (the summit of Mount Saint Elias, Canada's second-highest peak, is shared with the US state of Alaska). A long ridge connects Mount Lucania with Mount Steele (5,073 meters (16,644 feet)), the fifth-highest in Canada. Lucania was named by the Duke of Abruzzi, as he stood on the summit of Mount Saint Elias on July 31, 1897, having just completed the first ascent. Seeing Lucania in the far distance, beyond Mount Logan, he immediately named it "after the ship on which the expedition had sailed from Liverpool to New York," the RMS Lucania.

The first ascent of Mount Lucania was made in 1937 by Bradford Washburn and Robert Hicks Bates. They used an airplane to reach Walsh Glacier, 2,670 m (8,760 ft) above sea level; the use of air support for mountaineering was novel at the time. Washburn called upon Bob Reeve, a famous Alaskan bush pilot, who later replied by cable to Washburn, "Anywhere you'll ride, I'll fly". The ski-equipped Fairchild F-51 made several trips to the landing site on the glacier without event in May, but on landing with Washburn and Bates in June, the plane sank into unseasonal slush. Washburn, Bates, and Reeve pressed hard for five days to get the airplane out and Reeve was eventually able to get the airplane airborne with all excess weight removed and with the assistance of a smooth icefall with a steep drop. Washburn and Bates continued on foot to make the first ascent of Lucania, and in an epic descent and journey to civilization, they hiked over 150 miles (240 km) through the wilderness to safety in the small town of Burwash Landing in the Yukon.

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8. Iztaccihuatl - 5,230 metres

Photo: Global Volcanism Program - Smithsonian Institution

Location: Puebla (Mexico)

Iztaccíhuatl (alternative spellings include Ixtaccíhuatl, or either variant spelled without the accent) (Nahuatl pronunciation: [istakˈsiwat͡ɬ or, as spelled with the x, Nahuatl pronunciation: [iʃtakˈsiwat͡ɬ]), is a 5,230 m (17,160 ft) dormant volcanic mountain in Mexico located on the border between the State of Mexico and Puebla within Izta-Popo Zoquiapan National Park. It is the nation's third-highest, after Pico de Orizaba at 5,636 m (18,491 ft), and Popocatépetl at 5,426 m (17,802 ft).

The name "Iztaccíhuatl" is Nahuatl for "White woman", reflecting the four individual snow-capped peaks which depict the head, chest, knees, and feet of a sleeping female when seen from east or west. Iztaccíhuatl is to the north of its twin Popocatépetl, to which it is connected by the high altitude Paso de Cortés. Depending on atmospheric conditions Iztaccíhuatl is visible much of the year from Mexico City some 70 km (43 mi) to the northwest. The first recorded ascent was made in 1889, though archaeological evidence suggests the Aztecs and previous cultures climbed it previously. It is the lowest peak containing permanent snow and glaciers in Mexico.

9. King Peak - 5,173 metres

Photo: Utah

Location: Yukon (Canada)

Not to be confused with the highest peak in the state of Utah – Kings Peak – which sits at a lower height of 4,123 metres. King Peak is found in the Canadian Yukon and rises to 5,173 metres above sea level, making it the fourth-highest mountain in Canada and ninth on the continent of North America.

Even though this peak is second from the bottom on this top 10, the first ascent of it wasn’t actually made until 1952 by students from the University of Alaska. This relatively late climb of it is largely down to the steep slopes that flank the peak, steep slopes which make for tricky climbing conditions.

10. Mount Steele - 5,073 metres

Photo: North End Gallery

Location: Yukon (Canada)

Named after Sir Sam Steele, the mounted police officer in charge of the Yukon force during the Klondike Gold Rush, when an estimated 100,000 prospectors migrated to the Klondike region of the Yukon with the hope of finding gold and making their fortune. Mount Steele sneaks into this list of the highest mountains in North America with a height of 5,073 metres.

This first ascent of Mount Steele was spectacularly made after a metre of fresh snow was dumped onto the mountain, forcing many of the expedition to crawl across the summit plateau to the summit.

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