Mountains Word Search

Peaks, ranges, glaciers and the animals that live up high on one sheet, with its answer key.

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0 of 16 words found

ANSCUXDTRCSUEXL

IIURSLUHRNLVTHN

OHMAVFGLACIERTH

OCMNCOHSTTEFHZO

CSIGCLIMBERNCHF

IATEDBMHYSLOPEK

QELMEHANYALPSVB

RRUBQHLSYVSVVEO

LIVOLCANORWHVRU

ODASVAYCHBADEEL

AGAVALANCHESESD

PEAKLFSNNEWMITE

TFNULLAMANZRDBR

HTINENFTHIKERAK

URLNYSREBWRAKRF

This grid is wider and taller than its box. Slide it to see every letter.To drag, hold the first letter for a moment, then slide.Keyboard: Tab to the grid, arrow keys to move, Enter on the first and last letter.

PeakPEAK
SummitSUMMIT
RidgeRIDGE
ValleyVALLEY
RangeRANGE
SlopeSLOPE
BoulderBOULDER
GlacierGLACIER
AvalancheAVALANCHE
VolcanoVOLCANO
AlpsALPS
HimalayasHIMALAYAS
EverestEVEREST
LlamaLLAMA
ClimberCLIMBER
HikeHIKE

16 of 22 words from the Mountain Favorites list.

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Answer key: Mountains Word Search

ANSCUXDTRCSUEXL

IIURSLUHRNLVTHN

OHMAVFGLACIERTH

OCMNCOHSTTEFHZO

CSIGCLIMBERNCHF

IATEDBMHYSLOPEK

QELMEHANYALPSVB

RRUBQHLSYVSVVEO

LIVOLCANORWHVRU

ODASVAYCHBADEEL

AGAVALANCHESESD

PEAKLFSNNEWMITE

TFNULLAMANZRDBR

HTINENFTHIKERAK

URLNYSREBWRAKRF

PEAK, SUMMIT, RIDGE, VALLEY, RANGE, SLOPE, BOULDER, GLACIER, AVALANCHE, VOLCANO, ALPS, HIMALAYAS, EVEREST, LLAMA, CLIMBER, HIKE

Next step Find more landforms in the geography word search Make a puzzle from the mountains near your school

All 132 words

Parts of a Mountain 22

Arete A narrow ridge of rock between two valleys, often left when two glaciers carve side by side.
Boulder In geology, a piece of rock more than 25.6 cm (10.1 in) across; smaller pieces are cobbles and pebbles.
Cirque A valley shaped like an amphitheater, scooped out by a glacier; also called a corrie or cwm.
Cliff A wall of rock that stands vertical, or close to it, shaped by weathering, erosion and gravity.
Couloir A narrow, steep gully on a mountainside; in French the word means passage or corridor.
Crag A steep, rugged mass of rock that juts out.
Foothills Lower ground that rises little by little at the base of a mountain range, between plains and peaks.
Gorge A deep cleft between cliffs, cut by a river over a very long time; also called a canyon or chasm.
Massif The main bulk of a mountain, or a tight group of joined summits within a range; a French word.
Moraine Loose rock and debris carried along by a glacier and left in a heap where the ice dropped it.
Pass A way across a mountain range or over a ridge that people and animals can travel.

Show all 132 words (121 more)

Parts of a Mountain, continued

Peak The pointed top of a mountain, also called the apex or the acme.
Plateau A high area of flat land raised sharply above its surroundings on at least one side; a tableland.
Range A series of mountains set in a line and joined by high ground.
Ridge A long, narrow raised landform whose steep sides drop away from a thin top.
Scree Broken pieces of rock piled at the foot of a cliff after falling from it; also called talus.
Slope Ground that slants up or down, like the side of a hill.
Snow Line The level on a mountain above which the white cover stays on the ground all year.
Summit A point that is higher than all the ground right next to it: the very top.
Tarn A mountain lake or pool lying in a hollow that a glacier dug out.
Tree Line The highest edge at which woods can grow on a mountain; beyond it conditions, usually the cold, are too harsh.
Valley A long low area between hills or mountains, most often with a river or stream running through it.

Snow, Ice and Mountain Weather 15

Alpenglow A rosy light low in the sky on the side away from the Sun, just after sunset or before sunrise.
Altitude Height measured upward from a reference level; in everyday use, height above sea level.
Avalanche Snow rushing down a mountainside all at once; a big one can sweep ice, rocks and trees along.
Blizzard A severe snowstorm with strong steady winds and low visibility that lasts for hours.
Chinook A warm, dry wind that comes down the east side of mountain ranges in the interior of North America.
Cornice A lip of snow that hangs out over the edge of a ridge or crest; the word is Italian for ledge.
Crevasse A deep split in the ice of a glacier, opened as the ice moves and is pulled apart.
Elevation The height of a place on the Earth's surface above or below a fixed level, most often sea level.
Foehn A dry, fairly warm wind blowing down the sheltered side of a mountain range.
Glacier A lasting body of ice that moves slowly under its own weight; it forms where more snow falls than melts.
Ice Cap A frozen mass covering less than 50,000 square kilometers of land, usually over a highland.
Icefall A stretch of a glacier that flows fast over a steep bed and breaks into a jumble of cracks.
Serac A block or column of glacier ice, often as big as a house, that can topple with little warning.
Snowfield A spread of old snow and ice, as a rule high on a mountain; glaciers begin in these.
Whiteout Weather in which snow, fog or sand hides the horizon, so sky and ground look the same.

How Mountains Form 14

Caldera A wide hollow like a cauldron, left when a volcano's magma chamber empties and the ground above falls in.
Collision The pushing together of two continents, which builds mountains; India has pressed into Asia for about 50 million years.
Crust Earth's rocky outer shell; it is under one percent of the planet's volume.
Erosion The removal of soil or rock by water or wind, which then carries it to another place.
Fault A break in rock along which the two sides have moved; sudden slips on these cause most earthquakes.
Fold A stack of once-flat rock layers that has been bent or curved; some are as big as mountains.
Granite A coarse-grained rock, mostly quartz, feldspar and mica, formed as magma cools slowly underground.
Limestone A sedimentary rock made mostly of calcium carbonate, often from corals and shells piled up in the sea.
Orogeny Mountain building where plates push together; the word comes from Greek for mountain and origin.
Plate Tectonics The theory that Earth's rigid outer shell is broken into large slabs that have long been slowly moving.
Strata Layers of rock or sediment, each one set apart from the layers above and below it.
Uplift The raising of the Earth's surface by the forces of its moving plates.
Volcano An opening in a planet's crust that lets hot lava, ash and gases escape from below.
Weathering The breaking down of rocks where they sit by water, air, sunlight and living things.

Mountain Ranges of the World 20

Adirondacks A dome of mountains in northeastern New York State with more than 100 peaks; the highest is Mount Marcy.
Alps A high range of Europe, about 1,200 km long, crossing eight countries from Monaco and France to Slovenia.
Altai A range of Central Asia shared by Russia, Kazakhstan, China and Mongolia; its highest summit is Belukha.
Andes South America's great range along its western edge: about 8,900 km, the longest on any continent.
Apennines Chains of mountains running about 1,200 km down the length of peninsular Italy.
Appalachians A range of eastern North America, roughly 2,050 miles from central Alabama to Newfoundland.
Atlas A range of North Africa that separates the Sahara from the Mediterranean; its top is Toubkal, in Morocco.
Carpathians An arc of mountains about 1,500 km long across Central and Southeast Europe.
Cascades A range from British Columbia to Northern California with many volcanoes; its highest peak is Mount Rainier.
Caucasus A range where Europe meets Asia, from the Black Sea across to the Caspian; Mount Elbrus stands in it.
Dolomites A range in northeastern Italy, also called the Pale Mountains; a World Heritage Site since 2009.
Drakensberg The eastern part of the Great Escarpment of southern Africa, highest where South Africa meets Lesotho.
Himalayas A range in Asia between the plains of the Indian subcontinent and the Tibetan Plateau; Everest is here.
Hindu Kush A range about 800 km long, west of the Himalayas, from Afghanistan into Pakistan and Tajikistan.
Karakoram A range of Asia across Pakistan, China and India; it holds K2, the second-highest mountain on Earth.
Ozarks A highland region of Missouri, Arkansas and Oklahoma; the most extensive between the Appalachians and Rockies.
Pyrenees A range of southwestern Europe along the border of France and Spain, with Andorra in between.
Rockies The largest mountain system in North America, running some 3,000 miles from western Canada to New Mexico.
Sierra Nevada A range mostly in California; no point in the contiguous United States is higher than its Mount Whitney.
Urals A range running north to south through Russia; part of the usual boundary between Europe and Asia.

Famous Peaks 22

Aconcagua A mountain of the Andes in Argentina; the highest outside Asia and one of the Seven Summits.
Annapurna A mountain in Nepal, 10th highest in the world; in 1950 it became the first peak over 8,000 m to be climbed.
Ben Nevis The highest mountain in Scotland and the British Isles; its summit is 1,345 m above sea level.
Chimborazo A volcano in Ecuador; because Earth bulges at the equator, its summit is the farthest point from Earth's center.
Denali The highest peak in North America, in Alaska, at 20,310 feet; also known as Mount McKinley.
Eiger A mountain of the Bernese Alps in Switzerland, 3,967 m high, known for its huge north face of rock and ice.
Elbrus A dormant volcano in the Caucasus with two summits; at 5,642 m, the highest mountain in Russia and Europe.
Etna An active volcano on the east coast of Sicily, Italy; its height changes with eruptions at the top.
Everest Earth's highest mountain above sea level, on the border of China and Nepal: 8,848.86 m by the 2020 survey.
Fuji The highest mountain in Japan, an active volcano on the island of Honshu that last erupted from 1707 to 1708.
Kangchenjunga Third among the world's highest mountains, 8,586 m, between Nepal and the Indian state of Sikkim.
Kilimanjaro A dormant volcano in Tanzania: the highest mountain in Africa, at 5,895 m (19,341 ft).
Kosciuszko Mainland Australia's highest mountain, 2,228 m, in the Snowy Mountains of New South Wales.
Matterhorn A pyramid-shaped peak of the Alps on the border of Switzerland and Italy, 4,478 m high, with four steep faces.
Mauna Kea A dormant volcano, the highest point in Hawaii; from its base under the sea, some call it the tallest mountain of all.
Mont Blanc A mountain of the Alps on the French and Italian border, about 4,807 m; the highest in Europe outside the Caucasus.
Olympus A massif in Greece with 52 peaks; in Greek mythology it is the home of the gods.
Popocatepetl An active volcano in central Mexico, about 70 km from Mexico City; the country's second-highest peak.
Rainier An active volcano in the Cascade Range, also called Tahoma; the highest mountain in the state of Washington.
St. Helens An active volcano in Washington State; its eruption on May 18, 1980 lowered the summit by more than 1,300 feet.
Vesuvius A volcano on the Gulf of Naples, Italy; its eruption in 79 AD destroyed Pompeii and Herculaneum.
Vinson The massif in Antarctica that holds that continent's highest peak, at 4,892 m; first climbed in 1966.

Mountain Plants and Animals 18

Alpaca A domesticated South American animal, kept in herds on the heights of the Andes and raised for its coat.
Chamois A goat-antelope at home in mountains from the Pyrenees and the Alps to the Caucasus.
Condor A vulture of the Andes whose wings can span 3.3 m; few flying birds anywhere are as large.
Cougar A large cat of the Americas, also called the puma or mountain lion.
Edelweiss A mountain flower of the daisy family, covered in dense hairs; its German name means noble white.
Golden Eagle A dark brown bird of prey of the Northern Hemisphere that nests on cliffs and hunts hares and marmots.
Ibex A wild goat of the Alps; males carry long horns, and sharp hooves let it scale steep cliffs.
Krummholz Stunted, twisted growth where forest gives out on a mountain, bent by freezing winds; German for crooked wood.
Larch A deciduous conifer of the pine family from cooler northern lands; farther south it grows high in mountains.
Llama A domesticated animal of the Andes, a relative of the camel, long used to carry packs.
Marmot A large ground squirrel that sleeps through winter underground; the heaviest kind in the squirrel family.
Mountain Goat A sure-footed climber of sheer rock faces in western North America; despite its name, closer to the chamois.
Pika A small mammal of the mountains of Asia and North America, kin to the rabbit, with short round ears.
Ptarmigan A grouse of rocky mountainsides and tundra; its feathers turn white for winter and grey-brown for summer.
Red Panda A small mammal of the eastern Himalayas and southwestern China with reddish-brown fur and a ringed tail.
Snow Leopard A big cat of the mountains of Asia with thick whitish to grey fur, black spots and a thick bushy tail.
Vicuna A wild relative of the llama that lives high in the Andes; its very fine wool is costly.
Yak Long-haired cattle kept across the Himalayan region and the Tibetan Plateau.

Climbing and Mountain Life 21

Alphorn A long, straight wooden horn, 3 to 4 meters from end to end, played in the Alps.
Base Camp A temporary site for storing supplies and getting ready for a climb higher up.
Belay To manage the rope for a climbing partner so that a fall is stopped short.
Cairn A pile of stones made by people, often to mark a summit or a trail.
Carabiner A metal ring that opens at a sprung gate, for clipping things together fast; from German for carbine hook.
Chalet A wooden house of the Alps; its heavy roof slopes gently and has wide eaves.
Climber A person who uses hands and feet to go up steep rock, ice or a mountain.
Crampons Traction devices fastened to boots to give grip on snow and ice, as when crossing a glacier.
Gondola A cabin lift held up and moved by a loop of steel cable strung between two stations; a cable car.
Guide A trained, certified professional hired to lead or teach people on a mountain.
Harness Equipment a climber wears in order to tie in to a safety rope.
Hike A long, energetic walk in the country, as a rule along a trail or footpath.
Hut A simple building high on a mountain, as a rule reached only on foot, that gives food and shelter to hikers.
Ice Axe A tool carried on snowy mountain routes; at its simplest it is held like a walking stick.
Mountaineer Someone who takes part in the sport of going up high peaks; an alpinist.
Rappel To come down a steep rock face in a controlled way by moving down a rope; also called abseiling.
Rope A strong line; the kind used on mountains is a little stretchy, to soften a sudden load.
Sherpa A member of a people native to mountain regions of Nepal, India and Tibet; many work as climbing guides.
Switchback A very sharp bend in a trail or road, where the way turns about 180 degrees; a hairpin turn.
Trek A slow or difficult journey, often a long one made on foot.
Yodel To sing with quick changes between a low chest voice and a high head voice, an old Alpine tradition.

How this list was compiled: 132 mountain words in seven lists, from the parts of a mountain to climbing. Clue facts were checked on October 10, 2026 against each word's English Wikipedia article (https://en.wikipedia.org/, CC BY-SA 4.0), spellings against English Wiktionary, and the questions against the Wikipedia articles Mountain and Seven Summits, NOAA's National Ocean Service (https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/) and the U.S. Geological Survey (https://www.usgs.gov/faqs/). Not affiliated with either agency. Licence: own work

How it works

This mountains word search opens on 16 words, with Peak, Summit, Ridge, Valley, Glacier, Avalanche and Range among them. In all, 132 words fill seven lists, from the parts of a mountain to famous peaks and climbing.

Read the full guide

Mountain word search lists: landforms, ice and rock

Parts of a Mountain has 22 words, from Peak and Ridge to Scree, Cirque and Arete. Snow, Ice and Mountain Weather has 15, such as Crevasse, Cornice and Alpenglow, the rosy light after sunset. How Mountains Form adds 14 for an earth science unit, among them Fold, Fault, Uplift and Orogeny.

Ranges, peaks, wildlife and climbing

Mountain Ranges of the World puts 20 names on the map, from the Alps and Rockies to the Karakoram. Famous Peaks has 22, from Denali and Kilimanjaro to Fuji, Etna and the Matterhorn. Mountain Plants and Animals has 18, such as Ibex, Pika and Edelweiss; Climbing and Mountain Life has 21, with Cairn, Belay and Yodel.

Easy Mountain has 37 words of 3 to 5 letters, such as Peak, Ridge, Alps, Yak and Hike.
Open More options and tick Show clues, not words: Range prints as "A series of mountains set in a line and joined by high ground."

Questions and answers

What is the tallest mountain in the world?

Mount Everest is the highest above sea level: 8,848.86 meters by the 2020 survey. From its base under the sea, some call Mauna Kea in Hawaii taller, and the summit of Chimborazo in Ecuador is farthest from the Earth's center.

What is the longest mountain range in the world?

On land, the Andes: about 8,900 kilometers (5,500 miles) along the western edge of South America. The longest of all is the mid-ocean ridge, which runs 40,389 miles around the globe, about 90 percent of it under the ocean.

How are mountains formed?

By the slow movement of the plates of the Earth's crust. There are three main types: fold mountains, where plates collide; block mountains, raised along faults; and volcanic mountains.

What is the difference between a mountain and a hill?

There is no official one: the U.S. Geological Survey says no official definitions set a hill, a mountain and a peak apart. A mountain is usually considered higher than a hill, and is often thought of as rising above 2,000 feet (610 meters).

What are the Seven Summits?

The highest mountains on each of the seven continents: Everest, Aconcagua, Denali, Kilimanjaro, Elbrus, Vinson and, for Australia, Kosciuszko. A second version names Puncak Jaya, on New Guinea, in place of Kosciuszko. All but Puncak Jaya are in the Famous Peaks list.

All 132 words

Parts of a Mountain 22

Parts of a Mountain, continued

Snow, Ice and Mountain Weather 15

How Mountains Form 14

Mountain Ranges of the World 20

Famous Peaks 22

Mountain Plants and Animals 18

Climbing and Mountain Life 21

How it works

Mountain word search lists: landforms, ice and rock

Ranges, peaks, wildlife and climbing

Questions and answers

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