What is the difference between "mountain", "hill", and "peak"; "lake" and "pond"; or "river" and "creek?"
There are no official definitions for generic terms as applied to geographic features. Any existing definitions derive from the needs and applications of organizations using those geographic features. The Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) database utilizes 63 broad categories of feature types defined solely to facilitate retrieval of entries with similar characteristics from the database.
These categories generally match dictionary definitions, but not always. The differences are thematic and highly subjective. For example, a lake is classified in the GNIS as a "natural body of inland water”, which is a feature description that can also apply to a reservoir, a pond, or a pool. All "linear flowing bodies of water" are classified as streams in the GNIS. At least 121 other generic terms fit this broad category, including creeks and rivers. Some might contend that a creek must flow into a river, but such hierarchies do not exist in the nation's namescape.
The U.S. Board on Geographic Names once stated that the difference between a hill and a mountain was 1,000 feet of local relief, but this was abandoned in the early 1970s. Broad agreement on such questions is essentially impossible, which is why there are no official feature classification standards.
Learn more: U.S. Board on Geographic Names Principles, Policies, and Procedures
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Mapping Public Lands in the United States
The Protected Areas Database of the United States (PAD-US) is the official inventory of public parks and other protected areas in all U.S. states and territories.
Southeast arm of Yellowstone Lake
Southeast arm of Yellowstone Lake. Photo by Neal Herbert, Yellowstone National Park.
Wheeler Peak with Glacier
This zoomed-in view shows Wheeler Peak and a great bowl-shaped glacial cirque on the mountain's eastern face. A rock-covered glacier exists year round in the base of the cirque. A bristlecone pine forest grows on slopes near the toe of the glacier. This photograph was taken in mid July, 2005. The previous winter the Snake Range received nearly three times its normal
...Glacier Peak volcano, WA reflected in pond below the Whitechuck Gla...
Glacier Peak volcano, Washington reflected in pond below the Whitechuck Glacier, view from the south in late summer.
Aerial photo of Indian Pond hydrothermal explosion crater
Aerial photo of the 0.06 square mile (0.16 square kilometer) Indian Pond hydrothermal explosion crater north of Yellowstone Lake. The deposits from the explosion that formed the crater were dated with radiocarbon to 2,900 years ago. Photo from Yellowstone National Park Photo Collection taken by Jim Peaco in July 2001.
Lassen Peak viewed from the south at the summit of Brokeoff Volcano...
Lassen Peak viewed from the south at the summit of Brokeoff Volcano, Lassen Volcanic National Park.