This is a list of United States National Parks by elevation . Most of America's national parks are located in mountainous areas. Even among those located close to the ocean, not all are flat. Those few that are low-lying preserve important natural habitats that could never exist at high altitudes. Several national parks protect deep canyons with great vertical relief. There are also three national parks whose primary features are caves, the depths of which are still being explored.
Criteria: Points on this list are the highest and lowest points within each national park and its associated national preserve, if it has one. It does not include adjacent or associated national recreation areas, parkways, memorials, or forests, but does include private property within park boundaries. Footnotes are given to mention other notable high or low points, when appropriate.
| Rank | Park | Location | Peak name | Mountain range | Elevation | Location of lowest point | Minimum elevation | Vertical relief |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Denali |  | Denali | Alaska Range | 20,310 feet (6,190 m) | Yentna River [1] | 240 feet (73 m) | 20,070 feet (6,120 m) |
| 2 | Wrangell-St. Elias | | Mount Saint Elias | Saint Elias Mountains | 18,008 feet (5,489 m) | Gulf of Alaska | 0 feet (0 m) | 18,008 feet (5,489 m) |
| 3 | Glacier Bay | | Mount Fairweather | Saint Elias Mountains | 15,300 feet (4,700 m) | Gulf of Alaska | 0 feet (0 m) | 15,300 feet (4,700 m) |
| 4 | Sequoia |  | Mount Whitney | Sierra Nevada | 14,505 feet (4,421 m) | Kaweah River [2] | 1,360 feet (410 m) | 13,145 feet (4,007 m) |
| 5 | Mount Rainier |  | Mount Rainier | Cascade Range | 14,411 feet (4,392 m) | Ohanapecosh River | 1,610 feet (490 m) | 12,801 feet (3,902 m) |
| 6 | Rocky Mountain |  | Longs Peak | Front Range | 14,259 feet (4,346 m) | Big Thompson River | 7,630 feet (2,330 m) | 6,629 feet (2,021 m) |
| 7 | Kings Canyon | | North Palisade | Sierra Nevada | 14,242 feet (4,341 m) | Kaweah River (North Fork) | 3,480 feet (1,060 m) | 10,762 feet (3,280 m) |
| 8 | Grand Teton |  | Grand Teton | Teton Range | 13,770 feet (4,200 m) | Fish Creek [3] | 6,310 feet (1,920 m) | 7,460 feet (2,270 m) |
| 9 | Hawaii Volcanoes |  | Mauna Loa | Hawaiian Islands | 13,679 feet (4,169 m) | Pacific Ocean | 0 feet (0 m) | 13,679 feet (4,169 m) |
| 10 | Great Sand Dunes | | Tijeras Peak [4] | Sangre de Cristo Range | 13,610 feet (4,150 m) | near San Luis Lakes | 7,520 feet (2,290 m) | 6,090 feet (1,860 m) |
| 11 | Yosemite |  | Mount Lyell | Sierra Nevada | 13,114 feet (3,997 m) | Merced River | 2,105 feet (642 m) | 11,009 feet (3,356 m) |
| 12 | Great Basin |  | Wheeler Peak | Snake Range | 13,065 feet (3,982 m) | Snake Creek | 6,195 feet (1,888 m) | 6,870 feet (2,090 m) |
| 13 | Yellowstone |    | Eagle Peak | Absaroka Range | 11,358 feet (3,462 m) | Reese Creek | 5,282 feet (1,610 m) | 6,076 feet (1,852 m) |
| 14 | Death Valley |  | Telescope Peak | Panamint Range | 11,049 feet (3,368 m) | Badwater | −282 feet (−86 m) [5] | 11,328 feet (3,453 m) |
| 15 | Glacier | | Mount Cleveland | Lewis Range | 10,466 feet (3,190 m) | Flathead River [6] | 3,150 feet (960 m) | 7,316 feet (2,230 m) |
| 16 | Lassen Volcanic | | Lassen Peak | Cascade Range | 10,457 feet (3,187 m) | Hot Springs Creek | 5,275 feet (1,608 m) | 5,182 feet (1,579 m) |
| 17 | Lake Clark |  | Redoubt Volcano | Aleutian Range | 10,197 feet (3,108 m) | Cook Inlet | 0 feet (0 m) | 10,197 feet (3,108 m) |
| 18 | Haleakala | | Haleakala | Hawaiian Islands | 10,023 feet (3,055 m) | Pacific Ocean | 0 feet (0 m) | 10,023 feet (3,055 m) |
| 19 | North Cascades | | Goode Mountain | Cascade Range | 9,206 feet (2,806 m) | Goodell Creek [7] | 605 feet (184 m) | 8,601 feet (2,622 m) |
| 20 | Grand Canyon |  | Lookout tower near the North Rim's main entrance [8] | Kaibab Plateau | 9,165 feet (2,793 m) | Lake Mead [9] | 1,173 feet (358 m) | 7,992 feet (2,436 m) |
| 21 | Bryce Canyon |  | Rainbow Point [ permanent dead link ] [10] | Paunsaugunt Plateau | 9,115 feet (2,778 m) | Yellow Creek [11] | 6,565 feet (2,001 m) | 2,550 feet (780 m) |
| 22 | Black Canyon of the Gunnison | | Poison Spring Hill [12] | Grand Mesa | 9,040 feet (2,760 m) | Gunnison River | 5,440 feet (1,660 m) | 3,600 feet (1,100 m) |
| 23 | Capitol Reef | | park boundary near Billings Pass | Colorado Plateau | 8,960 feet (2,730 m) | Halls Creek | 3,877 feet (1,182 m) | 5,083 feet (1,549 m) |
| 24 | Crater Lake |  | Mount Scott | Cascade Range | 8,929 feet (2,722 m) | SW corner of park [13] | 3,990 feet (1,220 m) [14] | 4,939 feet (1,505 m) |
| 25 | Guadalupe Mountains |  | Guadalupe Peak | Guadalupe Mountains | 8,749 feet (2,667 m) | SW corner near Williams Road | 3,636 feet (1,108 m) | 5,113 feet (1,558 m) |
| 26 | Zion | | Horse Ranch Mountain [15] | Colorado Plateau | 8,726 feet (2,660 m) | SW corner near Rt.9 | 3,640 feet (1,110 m) | 5,086 feet (1,550 m) |
| 27 | Saguaro | | Mica Mountain [16] | Rincon Mountains | 8,666 feet (2,641 m) | Rudasill & Sanders Roads, Tucson Mountain District | 2,180 feet (660 m) | 6,486 feet (1,977 m) |
| 28 | Mesa Verde | | Park Point Lookout [17] | Colorado Plateau | 8,571 feet (2,612 m) [18] | Soda Canyon [19] | 6,015 feet (1,833 m) | 2,556 feet (779 m) |
| 29 | Gates of the Arctic | | Mount Igikpak | Brooks Range | 8,276 feet (2,523 m) | Kobuk River [20] | 280 feet (85 m) | 7,996 feet (2,437 m) |
| 30 | Olympic |  | Mount Olympus | Olympic Mountains | 7,962 feet (2,427 m) | Pacific Ocean | 0 feet (0 m) | 7,962 feet (2,427 m) |
| 31 | Big Bend | | Emory Peak | Chisos Mountains | 7,825 feet (2,385 m) | Rio Grande | 1,715 feet (523 m) | 6,110 feet (1,860 m) |
| 32 | Katmai | | Mount Denison [21] | Aleutian Range | 7,606 feet (2,318 m) | Shelikof Strait | 0 feet (0 m) | 7,606 feet (2,318 m) |
| 33 | Canyonlands | | Cathedral Point [22] | Colorado Plateau | 7,120 feet (2,170 m) | Colorado River [23] | 3,730 feet (1,140 m) | 3,390 feet (1,030 m) |
| 34 | Great Smoky Mountains |   | Kuwohi | Great Smoky Mountains | 6,643 feet (2,025 m) | Chilhowee Lake | 874 feet (266 m) | 5,769 feet (1,758 m) |
| 35 | Carlsbad Caverns |  | Guadalupe Ridge | Guadalupe Mountains | 6,535 feet (1,992 m) | Black River [24] | 3,596 feet (1,096 m) [25] | 2,939 feet (896 m) |
| 36 | Kenai Fjords | | unnamed nunatak | Harding Icefield | 6,450 feet (1,970 m) | Gulf of Alaska | 0 feet (0 m) | 6,450 feet (1,970 m) |
| 37 | Petrified Forest | | Pilot Rock [26] | Painted Desert | 6,234 feet (1,900 m) | BNSF Railway | 5,200 feet (1,600 m) [27] | 1,034 feet (315 m) |
| 38 | Joshua Tree | | Quail Mountain | Little San Bernardino Mountains | 5,813 feet (1,772 m) | Southeast boundary of the park | 536 ft (163 m) [28] | 4,033 feet (1,229 m) |
| 39 | Arches | | Elephant Butte | Colorado Plateau | 5,653 feet (1,723 m) | Colorado River | 3,960 feet (1,210 m) | 1,693 feet (516 m) |
| 40 | Wind Cave |  | Rankin Ridge | Black Hills | 5,013 feet (1,528 m) | Windy City Lake [29] | 3,559 feet (1,085 m) | 1,454 feet (443 m) |
| 41 | Kobuk Valley | | Mount Angayukaqsraq [30] | Baird Mountains | 4,760 feet (1,450 m) | Kobuk River | 40 feet (12 m) | 4,720 feet (1,440 m) |
| 42 | White Sands | | NE30 [31] | Tularosa Basin | 4,116 feet (1,255 m) | Lake Lucero | 3,887 feet (1,185 m) | 229 feet (70 m) |
| 43 | Shenandoah |  | Hawksbill Mountain | Blue Ridge Mountains | 4,051 feet (1,235 m) | unnamed stream at north end | 530 feet (160 m) | 3,521 feet (1,073 m) |
| 44 | Badlands | | Red Shirt Table | The Badlands | 3,340 feet (1,020 m) | runoff channel SE of Ben Reifel Visitor Center | 2,365 feet (721 m) | 975 feet (297 m) |
| 45 | Pinnacles | | North Chalone Peak | Gabilan Range | 3,304 feet (1,007 m) [32] | SE Corner [33] | 824 feet (251 m) [34] | 2,480 feet (760 m) |
| 46 | New River Gorge |  | Swell Mountain | Allegheny Mountains | 3,291 feet (1,003 m) [35] | New River [36] | 900 feet (270 m) | 2,391 feet (729 m) |
| 47 | American Samoa |  | Lata Mountain | Ta'u Island, Samoan Islands | 3,170 feet (970 m) [37] | Pacific Ocean | 0 feet (0 m) | 3,170 feet (970 m) |
| 48 | Redwood | | Coyote Peak | Bald Hills | 3,170 feet (970 m) | Pacific Ocean | 0 feet (0 m) | 3,170 feet (970 m) |
| 49 | Theodore Roosevelt |  | Peck Hill | The Badlands | 2,860 feet (870 m) | Little Missouri River | 1,940 feet (590 m) | 920 feet (280 m) |
| 50 | Channel Islands | | Devils Peak, Santa Cruz Island | Channel Islands | 2,450 feet (750 m) [38] | Pacific Ocean | 0 feet (0 m) | 2,450 feet (750 m) |
| 51 | Acadia |  | Cadillac Mountain | 1,530 feet (470 m) | Atlantic Ocean | 0 feet (0 m) | 1,530 feet (470 m) | |
| 52 | Voyageurs |  | Tower near Mead Wood Road entrance | 1,410 feet (430 m) | Rainy Lake | 1,108 feet (338 m) | 302 feet (92 m) | |
| 53 | Hot Springs |  | Music Mountain | Ouachita Mountains | 1,405 feet (428 m) | Bull Bayou | 415 feet (126 m) | 990 feet (300 m) |
| 54 | Isle Royale |  | Mount Desor | Superior Upland | 1,394 feet (425 m) | Lake Superior | 600 feet (180 m) | 794 feet (242 m) |
| 55 | Virgin Islands |  | Bordeaux Mountain | Saint John Island, Virgin Islands | 1,277 feet (389 m) [39] | Atlantic Ocean (Caribbean Sea) | 0 feet (0 m) | 1,277 feet (389 m) |
| 56 | Cuyahoga Valley |  | Black & Brush Roads | Glaciated Allegheny Plateau | 1,164 feet (355 m) [40] | Cuyahoga River | 590 feet (180 m) | 574 feet (175 m) |
| 57 | Mammoth Cave |  | Mammoth Cave Ridge near Park Ridge Road | Pennyroyal Plateau | 925 feet (282 m) | Green River | 421 feet (128 m) | 504 feet (154 m) |
| 58 | Indiana Dunes |  | Upland Trail, Pinhook Bog Unit [41] | 900 feet (270 m) | Lake Michigan | 577 feet (176 m) [42] | 323 feet (98 m) | |
| 59 | Gateway Arch |  | Old Courthouse [43] | 470 feet (140 m) | Mississippi River | 433 feet (132 m) [44] | 37 feet (11 m) | |
| 60 | Congaree |  | Old Bluff Road near main entrance | 140 feet (43 m) | Congaree River | 80 feet (24 m) | 60 feet (18 m) | |
| 61 | Everglades |  | Calusa shell mound | 20 feet (6.1 m) [45] | Atlantic Ocean | 0 feet (0 m) | 20 feet (6.1 m) | |
| 62 | Dry Tortugas | | Loggerhead Key | Florida Keys | 10 feet (3.0 m) | Gulf of Mexico | 0 feet (0 m) | 10 feet (3.0 m) |
| 63 | Biscayne | | Totten Key, Old Rhodes Key | Florida Keys | 9 feet (2.7 m) | Atlantic Ocean | 0 feet (0 m) | 9 feet (2.7 m) |
Bryce Canyon National Park is a national park of the United States located in southwestern Utah. The major feature of the park is Bryce Canyon, which despite its name, is not a canyon, but a collection of giant natural amphitheaters along the eastern side of the Paunsaugunt Plateau. Bryce is distinctive due to geological structures called hoodoos, formed by frost weathering and stream erosion of the river and lake bed sedimentary rock. The red, orange, and white colors of the rocks provide spectacular views for park visitors. Bryce Canyon National Park is much smaller and sits at a much higher elevation than nearby Zion National Park. The rim at Bryce varies from 8,000 to 9,000 feet.
Sequoia National Park is a national park of the United States in the southern Sierra Nevada east of Visalia, California. The park was established on September 25, 1890, and today protects 404,064 acres of forested mountainous terrain. Encompassing a vertical relief of nearly 13,000 feet (4,000 m), the park contains the highest point in the contiguous United States, Mount Whitney, at 14,505 feet (4,421 m) above sea level. The park is south of, and contiguous with, Kings Canyon National Park; both parks are administered by the National Park Service together as Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks. UNESCO designated the areas as Sequoia-Kings Canyon Biosphere Reserve in 1976.
The Little Colorado River is a tributary of the Colorado River in the U.S. state of Arizona, providing the principal drainage from the Painted Desert region. Together with its major tributary, the Puerco River, it drains an area of about 26,500 square miles (69,000 km2) in eastern Arizona and western New Mexico. Although it stretches almost 340 miles (550 km), only the headwaters and the lowermost reaches flow year-round. Between St. Johns and Cameron, most of the river is a wide, braided wash, only containing water after heavy snowmelt or flash flooding.
The Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy is an agency of the state of California in the United States founded in 1980 and dedicated to the acquisition of land for preservation as open space, for wildlife and California native plants habitat Nature Preserves, and for public recreation activities.
Guadalupe Mountains National Park is a national park of the United States in the Guadalupe Mountains, east of El Paso, Texas. The mountain range includes Guadalupe Peak, the highest point in Texas at 8,751 feet (2,667 m), and El Capitan used as a landmark by travelers on the route later followed by the Butterfield Overland Mail stagecoach line. The ruins of a stagecoach station stand near the Pine Springs visitor center. The restored Frijole Ranch contains a small museum of local history and is the trailhead for Smith Spring. The park covers 86,367 acres in the same mountain range as Carlsbad Caverns National Park, about 25 miles (40 km) to the north in New Mexico. The Guadalupe Peak Trail winds through pinyon pine and Douglas-fir forests as it ascends over 3,000 feet (910 m) to the summit of Guadalupe Peak, with views of El Capitan and the Chihuahuan Desert.
The Yampa River flows 250 miles (400 km) through northwestern Colorado, United States. Rising in the Rocky Mountains, it is a tributary of the Green River and a major part of the Colorado River system. The Yampa is one of the few free-flowing rivers in the western United States, with only a few small dams and diversions.
The Kobuk River, also known by the names Kooak, Kowak, Kubuk, Kuvuk, and Putnam, is a river located in the Arctic region of northwestern Alaska in the United States. It is approximately 280 miles (451 km) long. Draining a basin with an area of 12,300 square miles (32,000 km2), the Kobuk River is among the largest rivers in northwest Alaska, with widths of up to 1,500 feet and flows reaching speeds of 3–5 miles per hour in its lower and middle reaches. The average elevation for the Kobuk River Basin is 1,300 feet (400 m) above sea level, ranging from sea level at its mouth on the Bering Sea to 11,400 feet near its headwaters in the Brooks Range.
The Kern River, previously Río de San Felipe, later La Porciúncula, is an Endangered, Wild and Scenic river in the U.S. state of California, approximately 165 miles (270 km) long. It drains an area of the southern Sierra Nevada mountains northeast of Bakersfield. Fed by snowmelt near Mount Whitney, the river passes through scenic canyons in the mountains and is a popular destination for whitewater rafting and kayaking. It is the southernmost major river system in the Sierra Nevada, and is the only major river in the Sierra that drains in a southerly direction.
El Escorpión Park is a three-acre park located in the Simi Hills of the western San Fernando Valley, in the West Hills district of Los Angeles, California. The park contains the geographic landmark known as Escorpión Peak or Castle Peak, a 1,475-foot-tall rocky peak seen from most parts of the park and the surrounding community.
The Simi Hills are a low rocky mountain range of the Transverse Ranges in eastern Ventura County and western Los Angeles County, of southern California, United States.
The Upper Las Virgenes Canyon Open Space Preserve is a large open space nature preserve owned and operated by the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy spanning nearly 3,000 acres (1,200 ha) in the Simi Hills of western Los Angeles County and eastern Ventura County.
The Gates of the Mountains Wilderness is located in the U.S. state of Montana. Created by an act of Congress in 1964, the wilderness is managed by Helena National Forest. A day use campground near the Gates of the Mountains, Meriwether Picnic site, is named in honor of Meriwether Lewis.
Crabtree Creek is a tributary of the Neuse River in central Wake County, North Carolina, United States. The creek begins in the town of Cary and flows through Morrisville, William B. Umstead State Park, and the northern sections of Raleigh before emptying into the Neuse at Anderson Point Park, a large city park located in East Raleigh.
The Darwin Falls Wilderness is a protected area in the northern Mojave Desert adjacent to Death Valley National Park. The 8,189-acre (3,314 ha) wilderness area was created by the California Desert Protection Act of 1994 and is managed by the Bureau of Land Management as part of the National Wilderness Preservation System.
Paradise Glacier is a glacier on the southeast flank of Mount Rainier in Washington. It covers 0.4 square miles (1.0 km2) and contains 0.8 billion ft3 with Stevens Glacier included. The glacier is bounded to the west by the Muir Snowfield, Anvil Rock and McClure Rock. There is a single extant main lobe of the glacier, ranging from 9,000 feet (2,700 m) to 7,200 feet (2,200 m), that is connected to the larger Cowlitz Glacier. To the south, there was a smaller portion which was near the Cowlitz Rocks and the tiny Williwakas Glacier, ranging from 6,900 feet (2,100 m) to 6,400 ft (2,000 m) in elevation and containing the Paradise Ice Caves until the 1990s. This smaller lobe melted between 2004 and 2006. Meltwater from the glacier drains into the Cowlitz River.
The Piper Mountain Wilderness is a federally designated wilderness area located in the White Mountains 20 miles (32 km) northeast of Big Pine, California in Inyo County, California.
The South Fork Kings River is a 44.1-mile (71.0 km) tributary of the Kings River in the Sierra Nevada of Fresno County, California. The river forms part of Kings Canyon, the namesake of Kings Canyon National Park and one of the deepest canyons in North America with a maximum relief of 8,200 feet (2,500 m) from rim to river.
The Middle Fork American River is one of three forks that form the American River in Northern California. It drains a large watershed in the high Sierra Nevada west of Lake Tahoe and northeast of Sacramento in Placer and El Dorado Counties, between the watersheds of the North Fork American River and South Fork American River. The Middle Fork joins with the North Fork near Auburn and they continue downstream to Folsom Lake as the North Fork, even though the Middle Fork carries a larger volume of water.
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