Mt. McKinley vs. Denali
At RMI Expeditions, our commitment is to the mountains, the people who climb them, and the cultures that surround them.
A Mountain Known by Many Names
Long before maps or government proclamations, North America's tallest peak was called by the names of the Indigenous peoples who have lived in and around it for thousands of years. Among the Koyukon Athabaskan people, the mountain is "Denali," meaning "The High One." The Dena'ina of the Susitna River Valley call it "Dghelay Ka’a" - "The Big Mountain."
During Alaska’s Russian period, it was known as "Bolshaya Gora," Russian for "Big Mountain."
In 1896, an American prospector named William Dickey gave the peak a new name: "Mount McKinley," after then-presidential candidate William McKinley. Dickey’s choice wasn’t neutral - it was politically motivated, a symbolic nod to the gold standard during a heated national debate. The name was cemented federally in 1917 and persisted for over a century, despite local resistance and Indigenous advocacy.
In 1975, the Alaska State Legislature formally requested the mountain be renamed Denali. That request was blocked in Congress by representatives from McKinley’s home state of Ohio for decades. It wasn’t until 2015 that then-Secretary of the Interior, Sally Jewell, used her authority to officially change the name to Denali at the federal level.
For more information on the naming history, please see RMI’s Denali Cultural Landscape.
The Western Naming History of "The Great One"
May 6, 1794 - The historical first European sighting of Denali by George Vancouver when he was surveying the Knik Arm of the Cook Inlet and mentioned "distant stupendous mountains" in his journal. However, he uncharacteristically left the mountain unnamed. Vancouver was also the explorer who first named Mt. Rainier.
1800s - During the Russian ownership of Alaska (pre-1867), the common name for the mountain was Bolshaya Gora ("big mountain" in Russian).
1889 - The first English name applied to the peak was Densmore's Mountain or Densmore's Peak, for the gold prospector Frank Densmore who had fervently praised the mountain's majesty; however, the name persevered only locally and informally.
1893 - The mountain is first named on a map by Ferdinand von Wrangel with the name "Tenada."
1896 - The mountain was first designated "Mt. McKinley" by Seattleite William A. Dickey who led a gold prospecting dig in the sands of the Susitna River in June 1896. The name Mt. McKinley was inspired by William McKinley of Ohio who had been nominated for the Presidency and the fact that it was the first news they received when they left the wilderness. By most accounts, the naming was politically driven; Dickey had met many silver miners who zealously promoted Democratic presidential candidate William Jennings Bryan's ideal of a silver standard, inspiring him to retaliate by naming the mountain after a strong proponent of the gold standard. The naming was further reinforced after McKinley's assassination that led to sentiment favoring commemoration of his memory.
February 26, 1917 - President Woodrow Wilson signed the park bill that created the beginnings of McKinley National Park and officially named the great mountain Mt. McKinley.
1975 - The Alaska Board of Geographic Names changed the name of the mountain to Denali, and, at Governor Jay Hammond's behest, the Alaska Legislature officially requested that the United States Board on Geographic Names (BGN), the federal governmental body responsible for naming geographic features in the United States, change the name of the mountain from "Mount McKinley" to "Mount Denali." Ohio congressman Ralph Regula (whose district included Canton, where McKinley spent much of his life) opposed action by the U.S. Board and was able to prevent it.
1977 - With Secretary Morton no longer at the helm of the Department of the Interior, the Board again prepared to consider the name change, but Regula gathered signatures from every member of the Ohio congressional delegation against renaming Mt. McKinley, and no ruling was made.
December 2, 1980 - With President Jimmy Carter's signing into law of the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act (ANILCA), McKinley National Park was incorporated into a larger protected area named Denali National Park and Preserve. Naming the new, larger park Denali, while retaining the name Mt. McKinley for the actual mountain was thought to be a compromise by many "Mt. McKinley" partisans. However, "Denali" advocates rejected the position arguing the naming created confusion.
1981 - Regula used a procedural maneuver to prevent any change to the Mt. McKinley name. Under U.S. Board on Geographic Names policy, the Board cannot consider any name-change proposal if congressional legislation relating to that name is pending. Thus Regula began a biennial legislative tradition of either introducing language into Interior Department appropriation bills, or introducing a stand-alone bill that directed that the name of Mt. McKinley should not be changed. This effectively killed the Denali name-change proposal pending with the Board.
2009 - The retirement of Regula reinvigorated interest in renaming the mountain. Despite efforts in Alaska, Ohio Representatives Betty Sutton and Tim Ryan assumed Regula's role as congressional guardians of the Mt. McKinley name.
January 2015 – A bill submitted by Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski re-proposed renaming North America's highest peak as Denali.
August 30, 2015 – Sally Jewell announced that the mountain would be renamed Denali, under authority of federal law which permits her as Secretary of the Interior to name geographic features if the Board of Geographic Names does not act within a "reasonable" period of time.
January 2025 - In December 2024, President-elect Donald Trump stated that he planned to revert the mountain's federal name to Mount McKinley during his second term. Trump's proposal was met with criticism from many prominent Alaskans. Upon his inauguration in January 2025, Trump signed executive order Restoring Names That Honor American Greatness which changed the mountain's official federal name back to Mount McKinley.
What’s Changed, and Why We’re Using “Mount McKinley”
In January 2025, the current administration signed an executive order titled Restoring Names That Honor American Greatness. This action reversed the 2015 federal decision, reinstating the name Mount McKinley as the official federal name of the mountain. The surrounding area remains Denali National Park and Preserve.
We received a formal directive in February 2025, from the National Park Service stating that all references to the mountain must now read "Mount McKinley" in promotional materials, maps, and communications.
As an official concessionaire of Denali National Park and Preserve, RMI Expeditions is bound by contract to follow all federal naming guidelines, including those laid out by the U.S. Board on Geographic Names and the Department of the Interior.
For us, this is a matter of legal compliance. To continue offering safe, guided expeditions to this incredible peak, we abide by the regulations that govern our concession.
We will continue climbing with purpose, honoring the legacy of Denali National Park and Preserve and its people while complying with the regulations that allow us to share this incredible peak with others.
- The RMI Team
