Denali is the highest mountain peak in North America, with a summit elevation of 20,310 feet (6,190 m) above sea level. It is the tallest mountain in the world from base-to-peak on land, measuring 18,000 ft (5,500 m), and Earth's highest mountain north of 43°N. With a topographic prominence of 20,194 feet (6,155 m) and a topographic isolation of 4,621.1 miles (7,436.9 km), Denali is the third most prominent and third-most isolated peak on Earth, after Mount Everest and Aconcagua. Located in the Alaska Range in the interior of the U.S. state of Alaska, Denali is the centerpiece of Denali National Park and Preserve.
Denali National Park and Preserve, formerly known as Mount McKinley National Park, is a national park and preserve located in Interior Alaska, United States, centered on Denali, the highest mountain in North America. The park and contiguous preserve encompass 6,045,153 acres which is larger than the state of New Hampshire. On December 2, 1980, 2,146,580-acre Denali Wilderness was established within the park. Denali's landscape is a mix of forest at the lowest elevations, including deciduous taiga, with tundra at middle elevations, and glaciers, snow, and bare rock at the highest elevations. The longest glacier is the Kahiltna Glacier. Wintertime activities include dog sledding, cross-country skiing, and snowmobiling. The park received 594,660 recreational visitors in 2018.
Kahiltna Glacier is the longest glacier of the Alaska Range in the U.S. state of Alaska. It starts on the southwest slope of Denali near Kahiltna Pass. Its main channel runs almost due south between Mount Foraker to the west and Mount Hunter to the east. The name was first reported as "Car-ilt-nu Glacier" by Alaska Range explorer Lt. J.S. Herron in 1902. An alternate name is Kagheltnu Li'a. Kahiltna Glacier is the longest glacier in the Alaska Range at 44 miles (71 km) in length.
The name of the highest mountain in North America became a subject of dispute in 1975, when the Alaska Legislature asked the U.S. federal government to officially change its name from "Mount McKinley" to "Denali". The mountain had been unofficially named Mount McKinley in 1896 by a gold prospector, and officially by the federal government in 1917 to commemorate William McKinley, who was President of the United States from 1897 until his assassination in 1901.
Peters Glacier, also known as Hanna Glacier and Hudeetsedle Toyaane' is a glacier in Denali National Park and Preserve in the U.S. state of Alaska. The glacier runs from the Peters Basin icefield in a deep valley to the north of Denali's Wickersham Wall, between Denali and Peters Dome, falling from the icefield via the Tluna Icefall, where it is joined by Jeffery Glacier. It exits the Alaska Range to the north, forming the source of the Muddy River. Peters Glacier was named by A.H. Brooks for U.S. Geological Survey topographer William John Peters, who surveyed in Alaska from 1898 to 1902. Until 1947 it was named Hanna Glacier for U.S. Senator from Ohio Marcus Alonzo Hanna, a friend of President William McKinley.
Herron Glacier is a glacier in Denali National Park and Preserve in the U.S. state of Alaska. The glacier begins in the Alaska Range on the north side of Mount Foraker, moving northwest for 14 miles (23 km). It is the source of the Herron River. The name was given by A.H. Brooks of the U.S. Geological Survey to honor Lt. Joseph S. Herron, who mapped much of the region.
Harper Glacier is a glacier in Denali National Park and Preserve in the U.S. state of Alaska. The glacier originates on Denali at more than 19,000 feet (5,800 m) between Denali's North Peak and South Peak, falling to the northeast between the Karsten Ridge and the Taylor Spur. From about 12,000 feet (3,700 m) it falls between Pioneer Ridge and Karpe Ridge in the Great Icefall down to the Lower Icefall to become Muldrow Glacier. In 1913, the glacier was named by Hudson Stuck after Walter Harper, a Koyukon mountaineer and the first man to reach the summit of Denali.
Traleika Glacier is a glacier in Denali National Park and Preserve in the U.S. state of Alaska. The glacier originates from two forks on either side of Farthing Horn on the east side of Denali. The west fork of the glacier starts in the Thayer Basin to the south of Denali, moving northeast and falling from the basin's 15,000-foot (4,600 m) height via the Traleika Icefall into the west fork between Karsten Ridge and the Farthing Horn. The main fork starts from Denali's east buttress in Traleika Col, joining the West Fork between the Farthing Horn and Mount Silverthrone, then moving northeast to join Muldrow Glacier. Traleika Glacier was named in 1945 by Bradford Washburn, attributing the name to a Susitna name meaning "great one" or "high one.". The form Traleika is an Anglicization of the Dena'ina name Dghelaay Ka'a, denoting Denali.
Brooks Glacier is a glacier in Denali National Park and Preserve in the U.S. state of Alaska. The glacier originates on the east face of Mount Silverthrone at Brooks Gap. The 9-mile (14 km) glacier moves northeast, joining Muldrow Glacier between Mount Brooks and Ragged Peak. Brooks Glacier was named by T.G. Gerdine of the U.S. Geological Survey circa 1900 for geologist Alfred Hulse Brooks.
There are three glaciers named West Fork Glacier in Alaska, two of which are in the Alaska Range. The first West Fork Glacier is a glacier in Denali National Park and Preserve in the U.S. state of Alaska. The glacier originates at Anderson Pass, extending to the east and forming the source of the West Fork of the Chulitna River. Traleika Glacier was named in 1945 by Bradford Washburn, attributing the name to a Susitna name meaning "great one" or "high one." GNIS ID 1411870
Eldridge Glacier is a major glacier in Denali National Park and Preserve in the U.S. state of Alaska. The 30-mile (48 km) long glacier originates on the east side of Explorers Peak, flowing northeast to a basin below Mount Eldridge, gathering flow from several glaciated cirques, then flowing southeast to the valley of the Chulitna River, where it gives rise to the Fountain River. A large unnamed tributary glacier joins Eldridge Glacier a few miles above its terminus.
The Polychrome Glaciers are five glaciers in the Alaska Range of Denali National Park and Preserve in the U.S. state of Alaska. The glaciers originate in parallel glaciated north-trending valleys in the Alaska Range, opposite Polychrome Mountain across Polychrome Pass.
Mount Brooks is a mountain peak in the central Alaska Range in Denali National Park and Preserve. The 11,890-foot (3,620 m) mountain is part of a ridge extending northeastward from the main Denali massif, which includes Pyramid Peak and Mount Silverthrone. The ridge lies between Brooks Glacier and Traleika Glacier, overlooking Muldrow Glacier to the north. The summit is partly covered by ice.
Mount Carpe is a 12,550-foot (3,825 m) mountain summit in the Alaska Range, in Denali National Park and Preserve, on a northeast buttress of Denali. The Carpe Ridge includes Mount Tatum. Mount Carpe was named in 1943 by the U.S. Army Test Expedition after Allen Carpé, who was killed along with Theodore G. Koven, while on the Rockefeller Cosmic Ray Expedition in May 1932 when they fell into a crevasse on Muldrow Glacier.
Mount Koven is a 12,142-foot (3,701 m) mountain in the Alaska Range, in Denali National Park and Preserve. Mount Eldridge lies to the northeast of Denali on Karstens Ridge, with Mount Carpe to the northeast on the Carpe Ridge extension of Denali's northeast buttress. Mount Koven overlooks the Great Icefall of Muldrow Glacier, with the west fork of Traleika Glacier to the east. It was named for Theodore G. Koven, who, while trying to rescue Allen Carpé from a crevasse in Muldrow Glacier, fell into the same crevasse and was killed while on the Rockefeller Cosmic Ray Expedition in May 1932.
Mount Tatum is an 11,140-foot (3,395 m) mountain summit in the Alaska Range, in Denali National Park and Preserve. Mount Tatum lies to the northeast of Denali on Carpe Ridge with Muldrow Glacier to the west and Traleika Glacier to the east. Mount Tatum was named about 1945 by Bradford Washburn for Robert G. Tatum, a participant in the first ascent of Mount McKinley, reaching the South Peak on June 1, 1913.
Wedge Peak is a 9,941-foot (3,030 m) mountain in the Alaska Range, in Denali National Park and Preserve. Wedge Peak lies to the northeast of Denali overlooking Brooks Glacier and Muldrow Glacier. Mount Mather (Alaska) is immediately to the east. The peak was named in 1945 by the U.S. Army Air Force cold weather test expedition.
The McKinley River is a 58-mile (93 km) tributary of the Kantishna River in central Alaska in the United States. It drains an area on the north slope of the Alaska Range on the south edge of the Tanana Valley southwest of Fairbanks. The river issues from Muldrow Glacier in the northern Alaska Range in Denali National Park and Preserve, northeast of Denali. It flows through the tundra north of the Alaska Range in a generally northwest direction, joining Birch Creek to form the Kantishna River near Chilchukabena Lake.
Mount Eielson is a 5,802 ft (1,770 m) summit located in the Alaska Range, in Denali National Park and Preserve, in Alaska, United States. It is situated immediately east of the Muldrow Glacier terminus, 3.5 mi (6 km) south of Eielson Visitor Center, and 3.9 mi (6 km) north of Red Mountain, its nearest higher neighbor. Originally called Copper Mountain, this mountain was renamed by the U.S. Congress on June 14, 1930, to honor Carl Ben Eielson (1897–1929), for the pioneering work in aviation he performed in Alaska. Ben Eielson made the first airplane landing near Copper Mountain in Mount McKinley National Park, as it was known at that time.
Ragged Peak is a 9,160-foot (2,792 m) summit in Alaska, United States.
