Denali’s official modern elevation is 6,190.5 metres (20,310 feet) above sea level. It is the highest mountain in North America and the centerpiece of Denali National Park and Preserve in Alaska.
The elevation was established by a 2015 survey using modern geodetic techniques. That measurement replaced the older commonly cited figure of 6,194 metres, which had been calculated from earlier surveying methods. The change does not reflect a physical shrinking of the mountain; it reflects improved measurement and reference data.
Denali was formerly widely known as Mount McKinley, a name adopted in the late nineteenth century. The official federal name in the United States was changed back to Denali in 2015, while the mountain has long been called Denali by Alaska Native peoples.
Denali rises about 5,500 metres from base to summit, one of the greatest vertical rises of any mountain on land. Its extreme latitude also creates severe cold and difficult climbing conditions.