The tallest mountain peak in the United States is Mount McKinley in the Alaska Range, which stands 20,320 feet (6,194 meters) above sea level. After Mount McKinley, Hawaii's Mauna Kea Mountain is the next tallest, at 13,796 feet (4,205 meters) tall. The tallest mountain peak in the contiguous United States is Mount Rainier in Washington, at 14,417 feet (4,394 meters) high.
Some of the major mountain ranges in the United States include:
- Rocky Mountains - The Rocky Mountains are a major mountain range in North America, running 3,000 miles across the US and Canada, from western Canada to the state of New Mexico. The Rocky Mountains The Rockies include several subranges, including the Wasatch, Bitterroots, Big Horn, and Front Ranges.
- Appalachian Mountains - The Appalachian Mountain Range are situated in the eastern United States, stretching from Alabama, northeast across New England, and extending up to Canada. The Appalachian Mountains are about 1,500 miles long, and traverse the US states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee, New Jersey, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, and Alabama. The Appalachian Range also usually includes the Blue Ridge Mountains, Great Smoky Mountains, Allegheny Mountains.
- Cascades - The Cascade Range along the West Coast of the United States extend from Canada into the US states of Washington, Oregon, and California. These mountains were formed as part of the Pacific Ring of Fire, and have volcanoes, including Mount St. Helens and Lassen.
- Sierra Nevada - The Sierra Nevada mountains, located in the states of California and Nevada, are about 400 miles long. The name Sierra Nevada is Spanish for "snowy mountains," because of the snow-capped peaks of the range. Many of the mountains are formed of granite, and shaped by glaciers.
Last Updated On : August 31, 2012
