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Mountain Prominence Lists What is prominence? As defined below, prominence is an alternate way of measuring mountains rather than the elevation above sea level, the most common measurement. The most prominent peaks are then generally the highest freestanding mountains that have a noticeable separation between them and nearby higher peaks. In a mountain range that runs for many miles the most prominent peak will generally be the highest point in the range. How is Prominence Defined? It is the elevation difference between a peak and the lowest contour that encircles it and no higher summit. Prominence is the maximum "shoulder drop" a peak has. It is easiest to visualize by thinking of an island. Here the most prominent peak is obviously the highest point on the island and the prominence value is the peak height above sea level. Research for the California lists presented here were done by Andy Martin, Edward Earl and Aaron Maizlish over a period of several years. The website, Lists of John, is also a valuable source for prominence data and covers the entire U.S. excluding Alaska. I have added additional data to the lists such as UTM cooordinates, township data and benchmark information. Data for British Isles Peaks is from Alan Dawson. Data for Norway from Petter Bjorstad. Additional Information: Andy Martin publishes a book on U.S. County Highpoints that also lists the 50 most prominent peaks for the western states. Contact him at: oldadit@gmail.com California Prominence List, 201 peaks, ranked down to about 1850 feet. Primary List, UTM/Township List, Alpabetical List, Benchmark List. Peak 2973 ft. A nice remote peak in the Coxcomb Mountains in southern California. Monache Mountain, 9418 ft. A volcanic cone in the southern Sierra Nevada. Peak 9327 ft. An unnamed peak near Monache Mountain with a benchmark. Granite Knob, 9060 ft. A short scramble with good views (near Monache Mtn.). Cox Benchmark, 3035 ft. Another challenging climb in the Coxcomb Mountains. Mission Benchmark, 3535 ft. A peak in the eastern Eagle Mountains. Peak 4458 feet, (Buck Ridge), A remote peak in the Anza-Borrego Park. Berryessa Peak, 3062 feet, The most prominent peak in Yolo County. Garlock Benchmark, 4784 ft. In the El Paso Mountains, Kern County Peak 3500 ft. A challenging boulder scramble in Anza-Borrego Park. Walker Mountain, 11,563 ft. A nice Sierra peak west of Bridgeport. _____________________________________________________________________________________________ Nevada Prominence List, 645 peaks, ranked down to 1000 feet. Peak 1941m, Highpoint of the East Pahranagat Range. Bald Peak 8163 ft., a fun short hike in the Dolly Varden Mountains. Kawich Peak 9401 ft., one of the more diffcult Nevada peaks due to heavy brush. Not my favorite peak! George BM, McKinney Mountains high point, 9319 ft. A long hike to a seldom visited summit. Bald Mountain, 9808 ft. in the northern Monitor Range. Cone Benchmark, 7281 ft., high point of the Sheep Creek Range in Lander County. Gold Cross Peak, 3422 ft., a remote peak north of Lake Mead. A long hike or use a boat! Sheep Peak, 9750 ft., in the Sheep Range of the Desert National Wildlife Refuge. State Line Peak, 7990 ft. Highpoint of the Fort Sage Mountains. Northwest of Reno. Peak 11,085 ft. "Toiyabe Peak", In the northern Toiyabe Range. I show a possible alternate route. _____________________________________________________________________________________________ Death Valley National Park Peaks List, 115 peaks, Prominence values listed. Primary List, Benchmark List, Range and Township List Death Valley Back Roads map, by National Park Service, pdf file _____________________________________________________________________________________________ San Diego County Prominence List, 41 peaks, down to 1000 feet of prominence. _____________________________________________________________________________________________ Miscellaneous Peaks, Trip and Climbing Reports Scott Peak, 11,393 ft., Lemhi County, Idaho. Tough going scree on this one. Long Mountain, 4558 ft., Bonner County, Idaho. Smoky Mountain, 7580 ft., Cassia County, Idaho. Nice views over City of Rocks. Trapper Peak, 10,157 ft., Ravalli County, Montana, highpoint of the Bitterroot Range. Milford Needle, 9582 ft., Beaver County, Utah. A technical climb in central Utah. The following peaks are in Arizona. Tordillo Mountain, 2170 ft. and Lighthouse Peak in Cabeza Prieta Wildlife Refuge, Arizona. Peak 1999 ft., in the Cabeza Prieta Wildlife Refuge, a good, short climb in a great desert area. Peak 1833 ft., yet another peak in the Cabeza Prieta Refuge close to the above peak. Peak 1713 ft., A small pinnacle along the Camino del Diablo in the Cabeza Prieta Refuge. Peak 1781 ft., In the northern part of the Sierra Pinta on the Cabeza Prieta Wildlife Refuge. Peak 3012 ft., In the Gila Mountains on the Barry M. Goldwater Marine Corps Test Range. Peak 1474 ft., South end of Vopoki Ridge on the Barry M. Goldwater Marine Corps Test Range. Peak 2580 ft., At the southern end of the Gila Mountains on the Barry M. Goldwater Marine Corps Test Range. The following two peaks are in Big Bend National Park in Texas. Peak 3540 ft., A remote peak near the Rio Grande River. Trap Mountain, 4125 ft., near the Mule Ears View Point. The next two peaks are in Montana. Old Baldy, 8678 ft. A prominent peak in Fergus County in central Montana. Bearpaw Baldy, 6916 ft. A county highpoint and prominent peak in Hill County on the Rocky Boys Reservation. Back to California for the next peaks. Peak 7581 ft., High point of the Coso Range Wilderness area. Located in Inyo County, California. Peak 9724 ft., High point of the Domelands Wilderness area. Located in Tulare County, California. Peak 4038ft., High point of the Jacumba Wilderness in Imperial County, California. The next three peaks are in Guatemala and were climbed on a recent trip in December, 2016. Volcan Pacaya, 8376 ft., An active volcano south of Antigua. Pico Zunil, 11,621 ft., A peak that is not often climbed. Volcan Santa Maria, 12,375 ft., One of the big ones in Guatemala with a prominence of 3458 ft. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Allegheny National Forest High Point, 2360+ ft. Not much prominence for this point in McKean County, Pennsylvania. Cambria County High Point, 2862 ft., Pennsylvania. An easy hike on roads and forest path with a small amount of brush at the end. Pinto Mountains Wilderness High Point, Riverside Co., California, 3840+ ft. A hike in a remote area. _____________________________________________________________________________________________ Mexico, Baja California Prominence List, 56 peaks down to 2000 feet plus a few extras. Revised 11/15/2021 List #1 with coordinates in UTM using NAD27. List #2 with coordintes from List #1 converted to Latitude and Longitude using NAD83. This list There is a GPS file which includes all these peaks: Baja2K.gpx _____________________________________________________________________________________________ Britsh Isles Prominence Lists England - 50 Prominent Peaks, Eng50.gpx Scotland - 51 Prominent Peaks, Wales - 50 Prominent Peaks, Wales50.gpx _____________________________________________________________________________________________ Other Foreign Prominence Lists Norway - Top 100 Prominent Peaks (Petter Bjorstad site), Norway100.gpx Australia - Top 2000 ft. Prominent Peaks plus extras, 108 peaks total. (Mainland only), Australia2K_Prom.gpx |
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