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  "description": "Black Elk Peak, which was officially named Harney Peak until 2016, is 7,231 feet above sea level.",
  "path": "/fact-brief-black-elk-peak-rocky-mountains-alps/",
  "publishedAt": "2026-04-14T10:05:18.000Z",
  "site": "https://www.sdnewswatch.org",
  "tags": [
    "South Dakota News Watch Quiz - GigafactGigafact",
    "this one.",
    "New Survey, New Elevation for Black Elk Peak",
    "From Harney to Black Elk Peak: Evolution of a Name",
    "History and geography of Greenland",
    "Teide National Park",
    "Black Elk Peak",
    "Harney (Black Elk Peak) fire lookout",
    "Summiting Black Elk Peak: Conquer the Highest Point Between the Rockies and the Alps",
    "South Dakota News Watch",
    "Gigafact",
    "on the tipline",
    "Donate",
    "Share your thoughts on this story",
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  "textContent": "## No.\n\nBlack Elk Peak in the Black Hills is not the highest point between the Rocky Mountains and the Alps in Europe.\n\nBlack Elk Peak, which was officially named Harney Peak until 2016, is 7,231 feet above sea level. It is the highest point east of the Rockies in the United States.\n\nSouth Dakota News Watch Quiz - GigafactGigafact\n\nBut several mountains taller than Black Elk Peak lie between North America and Europe in the Northern Hemisphere. Greenland has multiple peaks higher than Black Elk Peak, including Gunnbjørn Fjeld at 12,119 feet. Mount Teide in Spain’s Canary Islands rises to 12,198 feet.\n\nVersions of the claim appear in various descriptions of the summit. U.S. Forest Service materials describing the historic fire lookout once referred to the peak as the highest point between the Rocky Mountains and the Pyrenees, and some travel guides have repeated similar wording using the Alps.\n\n_This fact brief responds to conversations such as_  this one.\n\n## Sources\n\nSDPB, New Survey, New Elevation for Black Elk Peak\n\nBlack Hills Visitor, From Harney to Black Elk Peak: Evolution of a Name\n\nThoughCo, History and geography of Greenland\n\nUNESCO, Teide National Park\n\nTravel South Dakota, Black Elk Peak\n\nForest Service, Harney (Black Elk Peak) fire lookout\n\nThe Adventure Collective, Summiting Black Elk Peak: Conquer the Highest Point Between the Rockies and the Alps\n\n* * *\n\nSouth Dakota News Watch partners with Gigafact to publish fact briefs that refute or confirm a claim with supporting information and additional evidence and context. Send questions or feedback to _news@sdnewswatch.org_. Submit a question for us to answer on the tipline.\n\nThis newsletter and all our stories are free because we believe that ****essential, fact-based information should be available to everyone**** , not just those who can pay for it. If you can afford it, ****please consider joining others and becoming a supporter****. Thank you.\n\n\n                            Donate\n                        \n\nShare your thoughts on this story\n\n_**South Dakota News Watch** is an independent nonprofit. Read, donate and subscribe for free at _sdnewswatch.org_.**Contact freelance reporter Michael Klinski:** michael.klinski@sdnewswatch.org._",
  "title": "Fact brief: Is Black Elk Peak the highest point between the Rockies and the Alps?",
  "updatedAt": "2026-04-14T10:05:18.624Z"
}