Top 10 Oldest Mountain Ranges On Earth

Mountains are ancient and majestic. The Himalayas are supposed to be around 55 million years old, the Rockies 80 million, and the Alps possibly 100 million! But these ranges are like babies compared to the oldest mountain ranges in the world!

10. Laurentian Mountains, Canada. 1,1 Billion Years Old

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These may not be as photogenic or impressive as the Canadian Rockies, but they are Canada’s oldest range by a long way!

9. Blue Ridge Mountains, Appalachians, USA. 1,2 Billion Years Old

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Often thought to be the oldest mountains in the world, these aren’t even the oldest in America! At over a billion years, they’re pretty old though!

8. Pilanesberg, Witwatersrand Range, South Africa. 1,2 Billion Years Old.

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This amazing section of the Witwatersrand Range features the largest and oldest Alkali volcano in the world. There’s even a game reserve inside it!

7. St Francois Mountains, USA. 1,485 Billion Years Old

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Really a range of hills due to their amazing age, these ancient mountains are found in Missouri.

6. Black Hills, USA. 1,8 Billion Years Old

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These look more like hills than mountains, due to their great age, but they are technically probably North America’s oldest mountain range! At close to two billion years in age, that’s not a big surprise!

5. Guiana Highlands, North Eastern South America. 2 Billion Years Old

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Spectacular area found in Brazil, Venezuela, Colombia, Suriname, French Guiana and Guiana. Mount Roraima is found here, as is the magnificent Angel Falls!

4. Magaliesberg, South Africa. 2, 4 Billion Years Old

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Gentle rolling hills often resembling waves found not far from the huge South African cities of Johannesburg and Pretoria.

3. Waterberg Mountains, South Africa. 2,7 Billion Years Old

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Arguably the most beautiful of all the ancient mountain ranges, this area also has loads of African wildlife. The mountains themselves are often rugged and unusually shaped, such as is seen in Hanglip mountain. The world’s hardest golf hole tees off on top of the mountain!

2. Hamersley Range, Australia. 3,4 Billion Years Old

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Australia’s oldest range is only narrowly the second oldest on earth. Its magnificent sandstone advertises how special the underlying geology is. Their beauty is readily appreciable in Karijini National Park and in stunning spots like Hamersley Gorge.

1. Makhonjwa Mountains / Barberton Greenstone, Swaziland / South Africa. 3,5 Billion Years Old

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The oldest mountains in the world are also some of the more impressive ones on this list. Despite their exceptional age this range is mountainous rather than hilly, reaching over 1km (3300 feet) above the surrounding terrain, and over 6000 feet above sea level. The oldest gold ever found, as well as possibly the oldest fossils have been found in these mountains which geologists say has the greatest cross section of the Earth’s geology available on the whole planet!