Agassiz Peak is the second highest mountain in U.S. state

U.S. state

A U.S. state is any one of the 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government. Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile. Four states use the official title of...

 of Arizona

Arizona

Arizona ; is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. It is also part of the western United States and the mountain west. The capital and largest city is Phoenix...

 at 12356 feet (3,766 m). It is located in the San Francisco Peaks

San Francisco Peaks

The San Francisco Peaks are a volcanic mountain range located in north central Arizona, just north of Flagstaff.The highest summit in the range, Humphreys Peak, is the highest point in the state of Arizona at in elevation. The San Francisco Peaks are the remains of an eroded stratovolcano...

 within the Coconino National Forest

Coconino National Forest

The Coconino National Forest is a 1.856-million acre United States National Forest located in northern Arizona in the vicinity of Flagstaff. Originally established in 1898 as the "San Francisco Mountains National Forest Reserve", the area was designated a U.S...

 near Flagstaff, Arizona

Flagstaff, Arizona

Flagstaff is a city located in northern Arizona, in the southwestern United States. In 2010, the city's population was 65,870. The population of the Metropolitan Statistical Area was at 134,421 in 2010. It is the county seat of Coconino County...

. The peak was named for Louis Agassiz

Louis Agassiz

Jean Louis Rodolphe Agassiz was a Swiss paleontologist, glaciologist, geologist and a prominent innovator in the study of the Earth's natural history. He grew up in Switzerland and became a professor of natural history at University of Neuchâtel...

, the celebrated naturalist.

Many visitors to Flagstaff incorrectly assume that Agassiz Peak is Humphreys Peak

Humphreys Peak

Humphreys Peak is the highest natural point in the U.S. state of Arizona, with an elevation of and is located within the Kachina Peaks Wilderness in the Coconino National Forest, about north of Flagstaff, Arizona. Humphreys Peak is the highest of a group of extinct volcanic peaks known as the...

. This is because Agassiz is between Humphrey and Flagstaff, blocking the view of Humphrey from town leading many to make this incorrect conclusion.

The mountain is open to climbers only in the winter when it is covered in snow. Hiking above treeline at other times is illegal due to the "threatened with critical habitat" status of the San Francisco Peaks Groundsel

Groundsel

Senecio vulgaris, often known by the common name Common groundsel, a humble in appearance member of the Asteraceae family and Senecio genus, is a tenacious deciduous annual whose presence now encompasses the globe in a wide area of easy to somewhat difficult growing conditions.The discussion of...

(Senecio franciscanus).