Highest Point in Every U.S. State

The topography of the United States is very diverse.

The high points in the country range from Denali, the tallest mountain in the United States located in Alaska, to states with high points that are low rises. The state with the lowest high point is Britton Hill in Florida with a rise of just 345 feet.

Discover the highest point in each U.S. state. Eight of the state high points are found in National Parks.

What are highpointers?

An interesting side note is that “highpointers” are people that visit every high point in every U.S. state.

Alabama

Cheaha Mountain: 2,413 feet (735 meters). State rank: 35.

Mount Cheaha, also known as Mount Delta, is located in Cheaha State Park, a few miles northwest of Delta.

Mount Cheaha was named by the Creek Indians and cheaha means “high place”.

Alaska

Denali: 20,310 feet (6,190 m) high.

Denali is the highest point in the United States and is located in the Alaska Range in the interior of the U.S. state of Alaska. Denali is also the highest point in North America.

For almost a hundred years, the U.S. government officially recognized the name of the mountain as “Mount McKinley” (named after then-presidential candidate William McKinley in 1896) from 1917 until 2015. In 2015, the officially recognized name was reverted to Denali, a name the local Koyukon people had been using for centuries.

Denali is part of the Alaska Range which stretches 600 miles along the Alaska-Canada border.

Arizona

Humphreys Peak: 12,637 ft (3,852 m).

Humphreys Peak is the highest natural point in Arizona.

Part of a group of dormant volcanoes known as San Francisco Peaks, Humphrey Peak is located within the Kachina Peaks Wilderness in the Coconino National Forest, and is about 11 miles (17.7 km) north of Flagstaff, Arizona. 

Arkansas

Magazine Mountain: 2,753 ft (840 m).

The highest point in Arkansas, Magazine Mountain is located north of Blue Mountain Lake in Logan County, Arkansas. Mount Magazine is a flat-topped mountain or mesa capped by hard rock and surrounded by steep cliffs.

The mountain gets its name from French explorers who thought the sound of a landslide on the mountain sounded like an ammunition magazine exploding.

California

Mount Whitney: 14,494 feet (4418 meters).

The tallest peak in the United States that isn’t in Alaska is Mount Whitney which lies on the boundary of Sequoia National Park and Inyo National Forest in California.

Mount Whitney, at 14,505 feet (4,421 meters), is the highest mountain in the contiguous United States and a popular day hiking and backpacking destination on the Pacific Crest Trail.

In the Paiute language, Mount Whitney is referred to as Too-man-i-goo-yah.

Mount Whitney is only 85 miles from the lowest place in North America.

The Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) instrument on NASA’s Terra probe created this 3-D perspective image of Mount Whitney. The western view shows the Alabama Hills in the foreground, a favored locale featured in hundreds of Western movies.

Colorado

Mt. Elbert: 14,440 feet (4401.2 meters)

Mount Elbert is the highest peak in the Rocky Mountains, the highest point in Colorado, and the second-highest summit in the contiguous United States (after Mount Whitney).

Connecticut

Mt. Frissell on south slope: 2,379 feet (725 meters)

Mount Frissell, at 2,454 feet (748 m), is a prominent peak of the Taconic Range that straddles the border of southwest Massachusetts and northwest Connecticut. The south slope of Mount Frisell along the Massachusetts border marks the highest point in Connecticut with an elevation of  2,379 feet (725 meters).

Delaware

Ebright Road 448 137

Ebright Road is home to Delaware’s highest benchmark monument. This horizontal control mark indicates 447.85 feet above sea level. The Delaware Geological Survey, in collaboration with the National Geodetic Survey, determined that this benchmark monument is located near the state’s highest natural elevation.

This makes Delaware the state with the second-lowest high elevation point. Only Florida is lower, with the highest elevation of 345 feet (105 meters) above sea level.

District of Columbia

Fort Reno Park: 409 feet (125 meters)

With an elevation of 409 feet (125 meters), Point Reno is the highest point in the District of Columbia.

Fort Reno Park is an urban park in Northwest Washington, D.C.’s Tenleytown neighborhood. The park is named after Fort Reno, one of the few places in the District of Columbia to see combat during the American Civil War.

Most of the park is now owned by the National Park Service. Prior to the park’s establishment in the 1920s, the area had been a largely Black residential area named Reno that was razed despite the efforts of members of the community to save it.

Florida

Britton Hill: 345 feet (105 meters)

The average topography of Florida is the lowest of any state. The majority of the state is at or near sea level.

Britton Hill, at 345 feet in elevation, is Florida’s highest point. Britton Hill is in Walton County, close to the Alabama border.

Georgia

Brasstown Bald: 4,784 feet (1,458 meters)

Brasstown Bald is the highest point in Georgia, United States. The mountain is located in the Blue Ridge Mountains in the northeastern part of the state, on the border between Towns and Union counties, south of Hiawassee.

Hawaii

Pu’u Wekiu, Mauna Kea: 13,803 feet (4,207.3 m)

Mauna Kea is the highest point in Hawaii and the world’s second-highest peak on an island after Puncak Jaya on the island of New Guinea.

A dormant volcano, Mauna Kea is about one million years old.

Mauna Kea is the fourth oldest of the five volcanoes that form the island of Hawaii. (Related: Geography Facts About the World’s Largest Active Volcano – Mauna Loa)

Idaho

Borah Peak: 12,662 feet (3,859 meters)

Mount Borah is not only the highest point in Idaho, it is also the state’s only active glacier. A 6.9 magnitude earthquake on October 28, 1983 resulted in the mountain rising one foot (30 centimeters). 

Illinois

Charles Mound: 1,235 feet (377) meters

The highest natural point in Illinois is located on private property. Located on the farmland belonging to  Jean and Wayne Wuebbels, public access is limited to daylight hours on the first full weekends of the months of June, July, August, and September.

Charles Mound is located in the Driftless Area, which stretches over Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, and Wisconsin. Driftless Area gets its name from the fact that the region was not covered or crushed down by the last continental glaciers.

Indiana

Hoosier Hill: 1,257 feet (383 meters)

The high point of Indiana is located on private land in a forested area surrounded by farmland. A boulder marks the high point. The high point is only about 30 feet higher than the surrounding land.

Iowa

Hawkeye Point: 1,670 feet (509 meters)

Located in Osceola County, Hawkeye Point is the highest point in Iowa. A mosaicked compass rose with a star marking the location on a map of Iowa marks this high point. The land where the Hawkeye Point is located was donated to the local government by the Sterler family who had farmed it for decades.

Kansas

Mount Sunflower: 4,039 feet (1,232 meters)

While the highest point in Kansas is called Mount Sunflower and it is the state’s highest natural peak in terms of elevation, it is nearly indistinguishable from the surrounding High Plains terrain. Elevation in Kansas gradually increases from east to west.

The high point is on private land but visitors are allowed with a picnic area and a sunflower sculpture garden made from railroad spikes.

Kentucky

Black Mountain: 4,145 feet (1,264 meters)

Also known as Katahrin’s Mountain, Black Mountain is the highest point in Kentucky by more than 500 feet.

The area around Black Mountain has long been a mining area with the mountain under private ownership. In 1999, the Commonwealth of Kentucky reached an agreement with local coal operators that created the Timber Purchase Area and the Timber Conservation Easement Area which eliminated surface mining at the summit and created a 18,000+ acre buffer zone below the summit.

Black Mountain is a important region for the growth of Northern Hardwoods forests and supports animals like Wehrle’s salamander and the Indiana bat (Myotis sodalis).

Louisiana

Driskill Mountain: 535 feet (163 meters)

Also known as Mount Driskill, Driskill Mountain is the highest point in Louisiana. Driskill Mountain was created by unlithified Paleogene sediment being eroded.

Maine

Mount Katahdin: 5,268 feet (1,607 meters)

Maine’s highest point was named by the Penobscot Native Americans. Located in Baxter State Park, Katahdin means “The Greatest Mountain”. The National Park Service designated Mount Katahdin as a National Natural Landmark in 1967.

The Appalachian Trail’s northern endpoint is Mount Katahdin.

Maryland

Hoye-Crest 3,360 feet (1,025 meters)

The highest point in Maryland is a summit along Backbone Mountain called Hoye-Crest. Located on private property, access to Hoye-Crest is actually reached through a foot trail that starts in Virginia from a point along U.S. Route 219 just south of Silver Lake, West Virginia.

Massachusetts

Mount Greylock: 3,491 feet (1,065 meters)

Massachusett’s highest point is Mount Greylock located in the northwest corner of the state. Visitors to the summit can see as far away as 90 miles on a clear day.

With the donation of 400 acres of property in 1898, Mount Greylock became Massachusetts’ first state reservation. The reservation now spans over 12,500 acres and includes an 11.5-mile stretch of the Appalachian Trail.

The only old-growth red spruce stands known to exist in southern New England are found on the steep northwest slopes of Mt. Greylock, Massachusetts’ highest mountain.

Michigan

Mount Arvon 1,979 feet (604 meters)

Part of the Huron Mountains, Mount Arvon is Michigan’s highest point. While Mount Arvon is owned by Weyerhaeuser, public access is allowed. Located in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula in Baraga County, USGS benchmark marks the location of the summit.

Minnesota

Eagle Mountain 2,301 feet (702 meters)

Made of granite, Minnesota’s highest point is part of a large rock formation called the Duluth Complex.

Mississippi

Woodall Mountain: 806 feet (246 meters)

Mississippi’s highest point is located in the northeast part of the state in Tishomingo County.

Also known as Yow Mountain or Yow Hill, Woodall Mountain also is referred to as America’s Bloodiest High Point. In 1862 the Battle of Iuka was fought here during the Civil War.

The mountain was renamed in 1878 after Zephaniah Woodall, Sheriff of Tishomingo County.

Missouri

Taum Sauk Mountain: 1,772 feet (540 meters)

Located in the Saint Francois Mountains, Taum Sauk Mountain is the highest point in Missouri. The mountain was named after a Piankeshaw chief named Sauk-Ton-Qua.

A 7,448-acre (30.14 square kilometers) state park around Taum Sauk Mountain was created in 1991.

Montana

Granite Peak 12,807 feet (3,904 meters)

Granite Peak is the highest point in Montana and the tenth highest point for a state.

Considered a challenging mountain to climb, considered by some to be second in nature after Denali, the first recorded ascent of Granite Peak was made by Elers Koch, James C. Whitham, and R.T. Ferguson on August 29, 1923.

Nebraska

Panorama Point: 5,429 feet (1,655 meters)

The highest point in Nebraska is Panorama Point. Panorama Point is a low rise on the High Plains.

The high point is marked by a registry and a stone marker.

Nevada

Boundary Peak 13,140 feet (4,007 meters)

Located in Boundary Peak Wilderness, Boundary Peak is the highest point in Nevada and the ninth highest state point.

The summit provides views of Mono Lake basin to the north, the Sierra Nevada Mountains to the west, the White Mountains Wilderness to the south, while Nevada’s Basin and Range extends to the east.

New Hampshire

Mount Washington: 6,288 feet (1,918 meters)

Mount Washington, known as Agiocochook by some Native American tribes, is the highest point in New Hampshire.

On April 12, 1934, Mount Washington experienced the highest ever wind speed recorded for on the surface of the Earth at 231 miles per hour. This record held until 1996. During Tropical Cyclone Olivia, Barrow Island, Australia set a new speed record of 253 miles per hour.

New Jersey

High Point: 1,803 feet (550 meters)

The highest point in New Jersey is High Point, the summit of the Kittatinny Ridge. Kittatinny Ridge is the result of continental collisions crumpling the earth’s crust, mile-high ice sheets grinding the earth’s crust, and centuries of erosion washing soil and rock into valleys.

Located in High Point State Park, New Jersey’s highest point is marked by the High Point Monument, a 220-foot (67-meter) obelisk that was erected as a war memorial in 1930.

New Mexico

Wheeler Peak: 13,161 feet (4,014 meters)

Wheeler Peak is the highest point in New Mexico. Wheeler Peak is located in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, which are the Rocky Mountains’ southernmost subrange.

A plaque at Wheeler Peak:

Named in honor of Major George Montague Wheeler (1832–1909) who for ten years led a party of surveyors and naturalists collecting geologic, biologic, planimetric and topographic data in New Mexico and six other southwestern states.

Wheeler Peak Wilderness encompasses almost 20,000 acres of rugged terrain.

Because of its elevation, Wheeler Peak is one of the few spots in New Mexico where you may view a true alpine “mat” rather than the grasses that grow in other high alpine areas. The “mat” produces stunning flowers in a rainbow of colors.

New York

Mount Marcy: 5,344 feet (1,630 meters)

Mount Marcy is named after 19th century governor William L. Marcy who had an environmental survey done of the area. Mount Marcy is known as Tewawe’éstha (“it pierces”) in Mohawk and Tahawus (“cloud-splitter”) in Algonquin.

North Carolina

Mount Mitchell: 6,684 feet (2,039 meters)

Mount Mitchell is the highest mountain in mainland eastern North America and the highest point in the Appalachian Mountains. The highest point in North Carolina, Mount Mitchell was called Attakulla by the Cherokee.

Elisha Mitchell, a science professor and geologist at the University of North Carolina, was the first to measure the peak in 1835.

In 1915, Mount Mitchell became North Carolina’s first state park.

North Dakota

White Butte: 3,506 feet (1,069 meters)

The highest point in North Dakota, White Butte is a prominent butte in Slope County, in the Badlands of the southwestern part of the state.

Ohio

Campbell Hill: 1,549 feet (472 meters)

The highest point in Ohio, Campbell Hill is 2 miles (3.2 km) northeast of downtown Bellefontaine in the city of Bellefontaine. Campbell Hill is a glacial moraine.

Campbell Hill is now the site of the Ohio Hi-Point Career Center, a career–technical school.

Oklahoma

Black Mesa: 4,973 feet (1,517 meters)

Black Mesa, located in northwest Cimarron County, Oklahoma, is the highest point in Oklahoma at 4,973 feet. Black Mesa is a mesa that spans the U.S. states of Colorado, New Mexico, and Oklahoma.

The name Black Mesa comes from a layer of black lava rock that covered the mesa around 30 million years ago. At Black Mesa, the Rocky Mountains meet the shortgrass prairie, creating a unique environment where many species are at the eastern or western limits of their range.

Oregon

Mount Hood: 11,249 feet (3,429 meters) 

The highest point in Oregon, Mount Hood is a stratovolcano in the Cascade Volcanic Arc that is potentially active. The last eruption was in 1781 and Mount Hood has been quiet since the mid 1800s.

Mount Hood experienced a magnitude 3.9 earthquake on June 5, 2021. The earthquake occurred at a depth of 2.7 miles below sea level and was not considered by experts to signal a change in volcanic hazard at Mount Hood.

Mount Hood, provides a striking backdrop to Portland, the state’s largest metropolis.

Mount Hood has been assigned different measurements over the last 150 years: 11,249 feet (3,429 m), a 1991 adjustment of a 1986 measurement by the U.S. National Geodetic Survey (NGS), 11,240 feet (3,426 m) from a 1993 scientific expedition, and 11,239 feet (3,425.6 m) from a previous USGS measurement.

Pennsylvania

Mount Davis: 3,213 feet (980 meters)

Pennsylvania’s highest point is located in Forbes State Forest.  Mount Davis was named after John Nelson Davis, an early resident, American Civil War veteran, surveyor, and naturalist notable for his study of the mountain’s flora and fauna.

Rhode Island

Jerimoth Hill: 811 feet (247 meters)

Jermimoth Hill is Rhode Island’s highest point. The location is marked with a federal geodetic survey marker.

Until 2005, Jerimoth Hill was challenging to visit due to a former landowner prohibiting visitors. The land is now owned by the State of Rhode Island.

Jerimoth Hill is reached by walking along a .3-mile (480 m) long path off Hartford Pike.

South Carolina

Sassafras Mountain: 3,554 feet (1,083 meters)

Located in the Blue Ridge Mountains, Sassafras Mountain is South Carolina’s highest point.

In 2019, an observation tower known as Sassafras Mountain Tower was opened on top of Sassafras Mountain. The tower is positioned 11 feet above the mountain’s highest point.

South Dakota

Black Elk Peak: 7,244 feet (2,208 meters)

Black Elk Peak is the highest point in South Dakota. The peak was renamed from Harney Peak on August 11, 2016 by the U.S. Board on Geographic Names to honor Black Elk, a Lakota Sioux medicine man.

Published elevation measurements of the peak have varied between 7,240 and 7,244 over the years since surveyors measured the height of Black Elk Peak in the late 1890s . In 2016, professional surveyors calculated the highest point to be 7,231.32 feet (2,204.11 meters) on the North American Vertical Datum of 1988 (NAVD88). That measurement has not been adopted by authorities.

Tennessee

Clingmans Dome: 6,643 feet (2,025 meters)

Clingmans Dome is the highest point in Tennessee and the third tallest mountain east of the Mississippi River, standing at 6,643 feet (2,025 meters).

Texas

Guadalupe Peak: 8,751 feet (2,667 meters)

The highest point in Texas is also known as the “Top of Texas.”

The mountain is part of a Permian-period reef that was once part of a vast inland sea that existed between 251 and 299 million years ago.

Utah

Kings Peak: 13,528 feet (4,126 meters)

The highest point in Utah is located in the Ashley National Forest in northeastern Utah.

King’s Peak was named after Clarence King, a local surveyor and the first director of the United States Geological Survey

Vermont

Mount Mansfield: 4,395 feet (1,340 meters)

Mount Mansfield is the highest point in Vermont.

The National Park Service designated the Mount Mansfield Natural Area as a National Natural Landmark in 1980.

The Mount Mansfield Natural Area is home to virgin red spruce-balsam fir forest, substantial alpine tundra, and rare arctic flora not seen anywhere else in the northeast on its top slopes and summit ridge.

Virginia

Mount Rogers 5,729 feet (1,747 meters)

Located in the southwest area of the state, Mount Rogers is Virginia’s highest point. Mount Rogers is named after Virginia’s first State Geologist and founder of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), William Barton Rogers.

Washington

Mount Rainier: 14,411 feet (4,395)

Mount Rainier is the highest mountain in the Cascade Range and lies about 60 miles (95 kilometers) south-southeast of the city. Due to the regions frequent rainy and cloudy weather, on clear days locals will declare “the mountain is out!” The highest point on Mount Rainier is Columbia Crest.

Mount Rainier, an active stratovolcano, is the most glaciated summit in the contiguous United States, generating five main rivers. Mount Rainier contains 26 glaciers, which hold more snow and ice than the rest of the Cascade volcanoes combined.

Because of its tremendous height, frequent earthquakes, active hydrothermal system, and vast glacier mantle, the USGS considers Mount Rainer to be the most potentially dangerous volcano in the Cascade Range. Mount Rainer has not produced a significant eruption in the last 500 years.

West Virginia

Spruce Knob: 4,863 feet (1,483 meters)

Spruce Knob is West Virginia’s highest point. There is a stone and steel observation tower that sits on top of the summit of Spruce Mountain, part of the Allegheny Mountains. Spruce Mountain lies within the Spruce Knob-Seneca Rocks National Recreation Area.

Despite the lower elevation (under 5,000 feet), Spruce Mountain’s relic boreal forest gives the summit a more distinctly alpine feel compared to other mountains the the southern Appalachians. 

Wisconsin

Timms Hill:

1,951 feet (595 meters)

Wisconsin’s highest natural point is Timms Hill in Hill, a town in Price County. An observation tower at the site provides visitors with a 30-mile view of the surrounding area.

Wyoming

Gannett Peak: 13,804 feet (4,210 meters)

Wyoming’s highest natural point is located in the northern Wind River Mountain Range. Gannett Peak is the highest peak in the Rocky Mountains outside of Colorado.

At 896 acres Gannett Glacier is the largest single glacier in the Rocky Mountains.

Gannett Peak straddles the North American continental divide which runs through the Wind River Mountain Range.

List of Highest Point for Every U.S. State From Highest to Lowest

Rank	State	Highest point	County or subdivision	Elevation (feet)
1	Alaska	Denali (Mount McKinley)	– –	20,320
2	California	Mount Whitney	Inyo-Tulare	14,494	*
3	Colorado	Mount Elbert	Lake	14,433
4	Washington	Mount Rainier	Pierce	14,411
5	Wyoming	Gannett Peak	Fremont	13,804
6	Hawaii	Pu’u Wēkiu, Mauna Kea	Hawaii	13,796
7	Utah	Kings Peak	Duchesne	13,528
8	New Mexico	Wheeler Peak	Taos	13,161
9	Nevada	Boundary Peak	Esmeralda	13,140
10	Montana	Granite Peak	Park	12,799
11	Idaho	Borah Peak	Custer	12,662
12	Arizona	Humphreys Peak	Coconino	12,633
13	Oregon	Mount Hood	Clackamas-Hood River	11,239
14	Texas	Guadalupe Peak	Culberson	8,749
15	South Dakota	Black Elk Peak (Harney Peak)	Pennington	7,242
16	North Carolina	Mount Mitchell	Yancey	6,684
17	Tennessee	Clingmans Dome	Sevier	6,643
18	New Hampshire	Mount Washington	Coos	6,288
19	Virginia	Mount Rogers	Grayson-Smyth	5,729
20	Nebraska	Panorama Point	Kimball	5,424
21	New York	Mount Marcy	Essex	5,344
22	Maine	Mount Katahdin	Piscataquis	5,268
23	Oklahoma	Black Mesa	Cimarron	4,973
24	West Virginia	Spruce Knob	Pendleton	4,863
25	Georgia	Brasstown Bald	Towns-Union	4,784
26	Vermont	Mount Mansfield	Chittenden	4,393
27	Kentucky	Black Mountain	Harlan	4,145
28	Kansas	Mount Sunflower	Wallace	4,039
29	South Carolina	Sassafras Mountain	Pickens	3,560
30	North Dakota	White Butte	Slope	3,506
31	Massachusetts	Mount Greylock	Berkshire	3,491
32	Maryland	Hoye Crest	Garrett	3,360
33	Pennsylvania	Mount Davis	Somerset	3,213
34	Arkansas	Magazine Mountain	Logan	2,753
35	Alabama	Cheaha Mountain	Cleburne	2,407
36	Connecticut	Mount Frissel on south slope at State line	Litchfield	2,380
37	Minnesota	Eagle Mountain	Cook	2,301
38	Michigan	Mount Arvon	Baraga	1,979
39	Wisconsin	Timms Hill	Price	1,951
40	New Jersey	High Point	Sussex	1,803	+
41	Missouri	Taum Sauk Mountain	Iron	1,772
42	Iowa	Hawkeye Point	Osceola	1,670
43	Ohio	Campbell Hill	Logan	1,550
44	Indiana	Hoosier Hill	Wayne	1,257
45	Illinois	Charles Mound	Jo Daviess	1,235
46	Rhode Island	Jerimoth Hill	Providence	812
47	Mississippi	Woodall Mountain	Tishomingo	806
48	Louisiana	Driskill Mountain	Bienville	535
49	Delaware	On Ebright Road at Delaware-Pennsylvania State line	New Castle	448	*
50	District of Columbia	Tenleytown at Reno Reservoir	– –	410
51	Florida	Britton Hill	Walton	345

This article was originally written August 19, 2021 and has since been updated.

Related

• The Highest 11 Mountains in the United States
• Geography of Extremes in the United States
• The Lowest Point in Every U.S. State
• Geology Quick Facts for Each U.S. State
• States in Order of Admission to the United States of America

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