Mount McKinley, also known as Denali, is the highest peak in North America, standing at an impressive 20,310 feet above sea level. Located in the Alaska Range of the United States, Mount McKinley is a popular destination for
The name of the highest mountain in North America has been a subject of dispute since 1975, when the Alaska Legislature asked the U.S. federal government to change its designation of the mountain from "Mount McKinley" to "Denali". The name Denali is based on the Koyukon name of the mountain, Deenaalee. The Koyukon are a people of Alaskan Athabaskans, who settled in the interior area north of the mountain. The mountain had been unofficially named Mount McKinley in 1896 by a gold prospector and officially by the federal government in 1917 to commemorate William McKinley, who was President of the United States from 1897 until his assassination in 1901.