What is the elevation of Denali, the highest peak in North America, in feet?

Denali’s elevation is 20,310 feet, making it the highest peak in North America.

Denali stands in the Alaska Range at the center of Denali National Park and Preserve. Its elevation was measured by the U.S. Geological Survey in 2015 using modern surveying methods. That measurement replaced the older figure of 20,320 feet, which had been calculated from 1950s photogrammetry.

The mountain’s name comes from the Koyukon word meaning “the tall one.” It was officially called Denali by the federal government from 2015 until 2025, when the U.S. Department of the Interior reverted its federal designation to Mount McKinley. Alaska and many climbers, residents, and institutions continue to use Denali.

Denali is also exceptionally tall from base to summit—about 18,000 feet—because it rises from a relatively low plateau. The first verifiable ascent reached the summit on June 7, 1913, by Hudson Stuck, Harry Karstens, Walter Harper, and Robert Tatum.