Fourteener

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title: "Fourteener" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["mountains-of-the-united-states", "lists-of-mountains-of-the-united-states", "lists-of-mountains-by-elevation", "peak-bagging-in-the-united-states", "culture-of-colorado"] description: "Mountain peak of at least 14,000 feet" topic_path: "geography/united-states" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fourteener" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Mountain peak of at least 14,000 feet ::

::callout[type=note] high mountain peaks ::

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8b/Denali_Mt_McKinley.jpg" caption="abbr=on}}, is the highest mountain in the United States"] ::

In the mountaineering parlance of the Western United States, a fourteener (also spelled 14er) is a mountain peak with an elevation of at least 14000 ft. The 96 fourteeners in the United States are all west of the Mississippi River. Colorado has 53 fourteeners, the most of any single state. Alaska has 29, the second most of any single state. Many peak baggers try to climb all fourteeners in the contiguous United States, or in one particular state, or in another region.

Qualification criteria

The summit of a mountain or hill may be measured in three principal ways:

1. Topographic elevation is the height of the summit above a geodetic sea level.
2. Topographic prominence is how high the summit rises above its surroundings.
3. Topographic isolation (or radius of dominance) is how far the summit lies from its nearest point of equal elevation.

Not all summits over 14,000 feet qualify as fourteeners. Summits that qualify are those considered by mountaineers to be independent. Objective standards for independence include topographic prominence and isolation (distance from a higher summit), or a combination of the two. However, fourteener lists do not always use such objective rules consistently.

A rule commonly used by mountaineers in the contiguous United States is that a peak must have at least 300 ft of prominence to qualify. By this rule, Colorado has 53 fourteeners, California has 12, and Washington has 2.

According to the Mountaineering Club of Alaska, the standard in Alaska uses a 500 ft prominence rule rather than a 300 ft rule. By this rule, Alaska has at least 19 peaks over 14000 ft and is home to all 9 US peaks exceeding 15000 ft.

Fourteeners

The following table lists the 96 mountain peaks of the United States with at least 14000 ft of topographic elevation and at least 300 ft of topographic prominence. Of these, 53 rise in Colorado, 29 in Alaska, 12 in California and one in Washington. The 22 highest fourteeners are all found in Alaska. ::data[format=table title="Fourteeners of the United States

"]

Rank	Mountain Peak	State	Mountain Range	Elevation	Prominence	Isolation	Location
1	Alaska	Alaska Range
2	Alaska	Alaska Range
3	Alaska
Yukon	Saint Elias Mountains
5	Alaska	Alaska Range
6	Alaska	Saint Elias Mountains
8	Alaska	Wrangell Mountains
9	Alaska	Wrangell Mountains
10	Alaska	Wrangell Mountains
11	Alaska	Alaska Range
13	Alaska
Yukon	Saint Elias Mountains
14	Alaska	Saint Elias Mountains
15	Alaska	Saint Elias Mountains
16	Alaska
British Columbia	Saint Elias Mountains
17	Alaska
Yukon	Saint Elias Mountains
18	Alaska	Saint Elias Mountains
20	Alaska	Alaska Range
21	Alaska	Alaska Range
22	Alaska	Alaska Range
23	California	Sierra Nevada
24	Alaska
Yukon	Saint Elias Mountains
25	Alaska	Saint Elias Mountains
26	Alaska	Saint Elias Mountains
27	Colorado	Sawatch Range
28	Colorado	Sawatch Range
29	Colorado	Sawatch Range
30	Washington	Cascade Range
31	California	Sierra Nevada
32	Colorado	Sangre de Cristo Mountains
33	Colorado	Sawatch Range
34	Colorado	San Juan Mountains
35	Colorado	Sangre de Cristo Range
36	Colorado	Mosquito Range
37	Colorado	Elk Mountains
38	Colorado	Front Range
39	Colorado	Sawatch Range
40	Colorado	Front Range
41	Colorado	Mosquito Range
42	Colorado	Front Range
43	Alaska	Wrangell Mountains
44	Colorado	Front Range
45	Colorado	San Miguel Mountains
46	California	White Mountains
47	California	Sierra Nevada
48	Colorado	Sawatch Range
49	Colorado	Sawatch Range
50	Colorado	Sawatch Range
51	Colorado	Sangre de Cristo Range
52	Colorado	Sawatch Range
53	California	Cascade Range
54	Colorado	Mosquito Range
55	Colorado	Sangre de Cristo Range
56	Colorado	Elk Mountains
57	Alaska	Wrangell Mountains
58	Colorado	Sawatch Range
59	Colorado	Collegiate Peaks
60	California	Sierra Nevada
61	Colorado	Sneffels Range
62	Colorado	Mosquito Range
63	Colorado	Elk Mountains
64	Washington	Cascade Range
65	Colorado	Front Range
66	Colorado	Elk Mountains
67	California	Sierra Nevada
68	Colorado	Needle Mountains
69	Colorado	Needle Mountains
70	Colorado	Sangre de Cristo Range
71	Colorado	Sawatch Range
72	Colorado	Sawatch Range
73	Alaska
Yukon	Saint Elias Mountains
74	Colorado	Sangre de Cristo Range
75	Colorado	Front Range
76	Colorado	Needle Mountains
77	California	Sierra Nevada
78	Colorado	San Juan Mountains
79	Colorado	Culebra Range
80	Colorado	Sangre de Cristo Range
81	Colorado	Sangre de Cristo Range
82	Colorado	Sangre de Cristo Range
83	Colorado	Mosquito Range
84	Colorado	San Juan Mountains
85	California	Sierra Nevada
86	California	Sierra Nevada
87	Colorado	Elk Mountains
88	Colorado	San Juan Mountains
89	Colorado	La Garita Mountains
90	Colorado	San Juan Mountains
91	California	Sierra Nevada
92	California	Sierra Nevada
93	Alaska	Wrangell Mountains
94	Colorado	Sawatch Range
95	Colorado	Sawatch Range
96	Colorado	San Juan Mountains
::

Topographic prominence

The table above uses a minimum topographic prominence criterion of 300 ft and includes 96 peaks. The number of peaks included depends upon the minimum topographic prominence criterion. A criterion of 100 m includes 90 peaks, 500 ft includes 77 peaks, 1000 ft includes 63 peaks, and 500 m includes 46 peaks.

The following U.S. summits have 14,000 ft of elevation, but have less than 300 ft of topographic prominence:

• Denali, Browne Tower, 14,530, Alaska: Prominence = 25 -. Why this became included on some fourteener lists is unclear.
• Mount Cameron, 14,238, Colorado: Prominence = 118 feet.
• El Diente Peak, 14,159, Colorado: Prominence = 239 feet. On many fourteener lists.
• Point Success, 14,158, Washington: Prominence = 118 feet.
• Polemonium Peak, 14,080+, California: Prominence = 160–240 feet.
• Starlight Peak, 14,080, California: Prominence = 80–160 feet.
• North Conundrum Peak, 14,040+, Colorado: Prominence = 200–280 feet.
• North Eolus, 14,039, Colorado: Prominence = 159–199 feet.
• North Maroon Peak, 14,014, Colorado: Official Prominence = 234 feet. On many fourteener lists, partially due to analysis with higher-resolution topographic data suggesting its true prominence is greater than 300 feet.
• Thunderbolt Peak, 14,003, California: Prominence = 223 feet.
• Sunlight Spire, 14,001, Colorado: Prominence = 195–235 feet.

Gallery

Mt Saint Elias, South Central Alaska.jpg|Mount Saint Elias, Alaska Mount foraker.jpg|Mount Foraker, Alaska MtBlackburn-KennicottGlacier.jpg|Mount Blackburn, Alaska MountSanford.jpg|Mount Sanford and Mount Wrangell, Alaska Elbert.JPG|Mount Elbert, Colorado Mount Williamson.jpg|Mount Williamson, California White Mountain CA.JPG|White Mountain Peak, California Longs.JPG|Longs Peak, Colorado Mount Shasta 1.jpg|Mount Shasta, California Maroon Bells (11553)a.jpg|Maroon Bells (Maroon Peak and North Maroon Peak), Colorado Pikes Peak by David Shankbone.jpg|Pikes Peak, Colorado BLANCA.JPG|Blanca Peak, Colorado San Miguel Mountains.jpg|Wilson Peak, Colorado

Notes

References

References

1. All elevations in the 48 [[contiguous United States]] include an elevation adjustment from the [[National Geodetic Vertical Datum of 1929]] ([[NGVD 29]]) to the [[North American Vertical Datum of 1988]] ([[NAVD 88]]). For further information, please see this [[United States National Geodetic Survey]] [http://www.ngs.noaa.gov/faq.shtml#WhatVD29VD88 note].
2. If the elevation or prominence of a summit is calculated as a range of values, the [[arithmetic mean]] is shown.
3. The [[topographic prominence]] of a summit is the [[Elevation. topographic elevation]] difference between the summit and its [[Topographic prominence#Definitions. highest or key col to a higher summit]]. The summit may be near its key col or quite far away. The key col for [[Denali]] in [[Alaska]] is the [[Isthmus of Rivas]] in [[Nicaragua]], {{convert. 7642. km. 0
4. The [[topographic isolation]] of a summit is the [[great-circle distance]] to its nearest point of equal elevation.
5. Blake, Kevin S. 2002. Colorado Fourteeners and the Nature of Place Identity. ''Geographical Review'' 92(2): 155–179.
6. "14er Information". 14ers.com.
7. "Getting Started". 14ers.com.
8. "Western Chugach 21 7,000-foot Summits". Mountaineering Club of Alaska.
9. "Alaska 13,000-foot Peaks". Peakbagger.com.
10. (2021-12-02). "North Maroon is Ranked".
11. "Sunlight Spire".

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