PNW Mountain Comparison

Whether driving on the freeway, hiking the trail, paddling on an alpine lake, or climbing to the summit, living in the Pacific Northwest, we are all often in the presence of the stout volcanic peaks in our area.

We all know that Mount Rainier is the tallest in Washington at 14,411 feet and Mount Hood in Oregon at 11,249 feet, but what interested us is what they would look like if they were placed next to one another? Would Mount Rainier really seem that much bigger? What would Mount Rainier look like next to Mount Shasta, which at 14,179 feet is only some 230 feet shorter. Mount Shasta, at 85 cubic miles, is actually the largest of the Stratovolcanos in the Cascade Volcanic Arc; if they were located right next to each other, would Shasta actually look larger than Mount Rainier?

What about those other mountains in the Pacific Northwest that don't get much attention at all, like Newberry Volcano or Steens Mountain? By volume, at roughly 80 cubic miles, Newberry Volcano is approximately the same size as Mount Rainier and Mount Adams, but its highest peak, Paulina Peak, is only 7,989 feet. How can that be?

To better examine some of these curiosities, we compiled a mountain comparison montage with some of the most prominent peaks of the Pacific Northwest, putting them all to the same scale, to get a sense of how big these giants really are and how they stack up to their other nearby brethren.