Mountain Identifier
Guides
Plain answers about identifying mountains: how to name the one in front of you, how far you can see, and what the numbers mean.
All guides
What mountain is this?
Four reliable ways to name the mountain in front of you or in a photo: an AR app, a compass and map, the photo's location data, or a local forum.
Read the guide →How does a mountain identifier app work?
Mountain identifier apps work in one of two ways: AR labels from GPS and terrain, or AI guesses from a photo. Here's how each works and where each fails.
Read the guide →How do I identify a mountain from a photo?
Start with the photo's location tag, work out which way the camera faced, then match the skyline on a 3D map. Plus when AI photo tools help and when they guess.
Read the guide →What mountains can I see from here?
A map shows every mountain nearby, not the ones you can see. Here's how line of sight works, why near ridges hide far peaks, and the tools that compute it.
Read the guide →What's the best app to identify mountains?
PeakFinder, PeakVisor, Peaks USA, AI photo apps and ours, compared on how they identify peaks, what works without signal, range and price.
Read the guide →How far away can you see a mountain?
Curvature, refraction and haze, worked through with real numbers: how much of a mountain hides below the horizon at 50, 100 and 200 km, and the record sightlines.
Read the guide →What is mountain prominence?
Prominence measures how much a summit stands on its own: the drop to the saddle linking it to higher ground. Examples, how lists use it, and why data is thin.
Read the guide →What's the difference between a mountain, a hill and a peak?
There's no official height that makes a hill a mountain. What the USGS says, the old 1,000 ft rule, the UN's working definition, and where peak and summit fit in.
Read the guide →How do you identify a mountain with a map and compass?
Take a bearing to the peak, correct for declination, draw the line on a topo map, then check distance and height. A step-by-step method that works with no battery.
Read the guide →Can you identify mountains without cell signal?
GPS works without cell service, so mountain apps can too, if their data is already on your phone. What to prepare before you lose signal, and the no-battery backup.
Read the guide →What is peak bagging, and how do you start?
Peak bagging means working through a list of summits. How to pick a first list, from state highpoints to the Munros, how lists decide what counts, and how to log it.
Read the guide →Is that Mount Hood or Mount Adams?
From Portland, the Gorge or the highway, how to tell Mount Hood from Mount Adams: direction, distance, shape and height, with bearings from common viewpoints.
Read the guide →What mountains can you see from Denver?
Mount Blue Sky to the west, Longs Peak to the northwest, Pikes Peak due south: the Denver skyline named peak by peak, with directions and distances.
Read the guide →What mountains can you see from Los Angeles?
Mount Wilson's antennas, snowy Mount Baldy, and San Gorgonio on the clearest days: the LA skyline named peak by peak, with directions and distances.
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