Map of the Sierra Nevada
The whole Sierra Nevada on real terrain, from our satellite elevation model — the full arc masked to the range’s mapped boundary, with 7 of its great peaks pinned (each labelled with its surveyed height). Mount Whitney tops them all at 14,505 ft (4,421 m). Drag to spin it (two-finger to orbit on mobile).
Where are the Sierra Nevada?
The Sierra Nevada lies entirely within the United States. The area below is this page’s own measurement — the range boundary intersected with the outline of the United States, by true (geodesic) area.
| Country | Share of range | Area |
|---|---|---|
| United States | 100.0% | 23,993 mi² (62,142 km²) |
Range boundary: GMBA Mountain Inventory v2.0 (standard extent). Country outlines: geoBoundaries ADM0. Computed range area 62,142 km² — within about 1% of GMBA’s published 62,251 km².
The highest peak: Mount Whitney
The highest point of the Sierra Nevada is Mount Whitney, at 14,505 ft (4,421 m) — the highest summit in the contiguous United States.
Zooming to the roof of the range — a fine ~62 m model of the Mount Whitney massif.
Great peaks of the Sierra Nevada
A curated selection — the range's highest summits and notable high points, chosen for fame and spread rather than by a strict height cutoff. Each is pinned on the map above; the heights here are the surveyed figures.
| Peak | Elevation | Country | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mount Whitneyhighest | 14,505 ft (4,421 m) | Inyo/Tulare Co., California | Highest summit in the contiguous United States |
| Mount Williamson | 14,380 ft (4,383 m) | Inyo Co., California | Second-highest in the Sierra and in California |
| North Palisade | 14,249 ft (4,343 m) | Fresno/Inyo Co., California | Highest of the Palisades group |
| Mount Tyndall | 14,026 ft (4,275 m) | Inyo/Tulare Co., California | On the Sierra Crest near Whitney |
| Middle Palisade | 14,019 ft (4,273 m) | Inyo Co., California | Palisades fourteener |
| Mount Lyell | 13,114 ft (3,997 m) | Tuolumne/Madera Co., California | Highest point in Yosemite National Park |
| Mount Dana | 13,061 ft (3,981 m) | Mono/Tuolumne Co., California | Near Tioga Pass, above 13,000 ft |
Relief and elevation range
Across the mapped range the land runs from about 98 ft (30 m) on the valley floors to 14,167 ft (4,318 m) at the highest ground — a vertical range of 14,068 ft (4,288 m), which puts the Sierra Nevada in the extreme-relief class. The mean elevation is 5,689 ft (1,734 m) and the median 5,545 ft (1,690 m); the two sitting close together says the height is spread broadly across the range, not concentrated in a few peaks over otherwise low ground.
The distribution above is the share of the range’s area at each elevation, computed from the same satellite model as the maps. It reads the Sierra Nevada as a true massif — a large area held high — rather than a thin crest.
Sierra Nevada FAQ
- How many countries does the Sierra Nevada cross?
- The Sierra Nevada lies entirely within the United States — a single country.
- How long is the Sierra Nevada?
- The Sierra Nevada arcs roughly 640 km down eastern California, from Fredonyer Pass in the north to Tehachapi Pass in the south. The map above shows that whole arc masked to the range’s mapped boundary.
- How was the Sierra Nevada formed?
- The Sierra Nevada is a great tilted fault block of granite — uplifted and tilted westward along its steep eastern escarpment, then carved by rivers and glaciers.
- Is Mount Whitney the highest peak in the Sierra Nevada?
- Yes. Mount Whitney, at 14,505 ft (4,421 m), is the highest point anywhere in the Sierra Nevada. The next-highest of the peaks pinned here, Mount Williamson, is about 125 ft (38 m) lower.
Related ranges
More of the world’s mountains, rendered the same way — explore other ranges in 3D.
- Cascades↑ Mount Rainier, 14,409 ft (4,392 m)
- Rockies↑ Mount Elbert, 14,439 ft (4,401 m)
- Appalachians↑ Mount Mitchell, 6,683 ft (2,037 m)
- Andes↑ Aconcagua, 22,838 ft (6,961 m)
- Alps↑ Mont Blanc, 15,766 ft (4,805.59 m)
- Himalayas↑ Mount Everest, 29,032 ft (8,848.86 m)
Elevation from Copernicus GLO-30 (ESA), sampled over the range and masked to its boundary. The range boundary is the GMBA Mountain Inventory v2.0 (standard extent; Snethlage et al. 2022, CC BY 4.0). Country outlines from geoBoundaries. Every figure on this page is computed from these sources; the surveyed Mount Whitney height is the one exception, cited above. See the methodology. Data as of 2026-08-22.