North Palisade
Trip Guide & 3D Map
Sierra Nevada · Difficulty, season, and access — then explore the 3D terrain
Planning snapshot
North Palisade is a 14,242 ft summit in the Sierra Nevada (USA). PeakAtlas rates it alpine technical (Technical rock); best season is Jun–Sep. Permit required. Typical staging is Big Pine (16 mi). Limited lodging data is mapped from OpenStreetMap for this region — stage in the listed town rather than expecting a full hotel directory. Use the 3D map and trip checklist before you go.
- Elevation
- 14,242 ft
- Prominence
- 2,894 ft
- Difficulty tier
- Alpine technical
- Best season
- Jun–Sep
- Permits
- Permit required
- Staging
- Big Pine · 16 mi
- Mapped lodging
- Limited / none mapped
- Listed trails
- 1
As of 2026-07-31 · Figures come from the PeakAtlas3D catalog: surveyed elevations and prominence, curated difficulty tiers, best-season windows, permit notes, staging-town distances, trail lists, and OpenStreetMap lodging near each summit. Not live weather, quotas, or prices.
How hard is North Palisade, and what do you need before you go?
North Palisade is listed as Technical rock with a best season of Jun–Sep. Use the difficulty, permit, and staging details below before you commit to a date.
- Difficulty
- Technical rock
- Best season
- Jun–Sep
- Access / staging
- Big Pine, California
How tall is North Palisade, and where is it?
- Location
- California, USA
- Elevation
- 14,242 ft
- Prominence
- 2,894 ft
- Mountain range
- Sierra Nevada
- Difficulty
- Technical rock
What makes North Palisade notable?
Crown of the Palisades and one of the Sierra Nevada’s great technical 14ers.
Highest of the Palisades — a technical Sierra 14er above the Palisade Glacier with classic routes from Bishop and Big Pine.
After you check trip readiness for North Palisade, explore the summit on PeakAtlas3D’s interactive 3D topographic map in the Sierra Nevada, California, USA.
Closest places
- Bishop — California via US-395