Earl Peak

At just over 7000 feet elevation, Earl Peak is one of the highest in the area. Its peak—looking straight across Ingalls Creek to Argonaut, Colchuck, and Dragontail—places one nicely to view a stunning panorama the entire Stuart Range from Mount Stuart to McClellan Peak. On a clear day, this hike also provides beautiful views of Mt. Rainier. A high starting spot, a well maintained and shaded trail, meadow flowers in profusion, and a moderate scramble (class 2) make this a hard-to-beat hike.

Maps: USGS Enchantment Lakes. View our topo map below.

Note: use ‘Print Preview’ before printing to properly scale this map to a full sheet of paper.

Activity: Hiking
Nearest Town: Cle Elum
Skill Level: 2+ to 3-
Fitness Level: 2+
Distance:
–Shorter version: About 4 miles to the summit, 8 miles round-trip
–Longer version: About 5 miles to the summit, 10 miles round-trip
Elevation: About 3900 ft elevation gain
Recommended Season: Summer

Access:
–Driving south from Leavenworth on Highway 97, turn right (west) on Highway 970.
–About 3 miles from the junction, turn right (north) on Teanaway Rd.
–Continue following the road and, as it splits, take the main road (N Fork Teanaway Rd).
–Continue on this road until the pavement ends and the road forks. Take the right fork, following directions to Beverly Campground
–1.4 miles from the end of pavement, the road forks again. Take the left fork, which is signed with directions to Beverly Campground.
–1 miles later, you will pass a bridge that crosses the North Fork Teanaway River.
— Continue along the main road for 1.4 miles until you reach the bridge that crosses Beverly Creek.
–For a slightly shorter hike, take a right on the bumpy gravel road just before the bridge and continue 1.2 miles the Beverly Turnpike Trailhead.
–For a longer hike, drive 0.1 miles past the bridge and pull into the unmarked parking area on the right of the road. From here, either follow a faint trail at the northern end of the parking area to Beverly Creek and bushwhack your way across the creek to the Beverly Turnpike road on the other side, or follow the main road back across the Beverly Creek bridge and then turn left onto the road to the Beverly Turnpike Trailhead.

Trip Instructions:
–You could climb Earl from several sides, but most common involves starting at the Beverly Turnpike Trail.
–After hiking a short half mile, take the right fork, heading up the Bean Creek drainage (trail 1391A). This time of year, the creek crossings of both Beverly and Bean are simple affairs–not so in May/ June when the creeks rage.
–Bean Creek meadows are reached at 2.5 miles. There are several possible camping areas in these meadows and further up Bean Creek. You could wander up the Bean Creek drainage, but the main route bends right (east), crosses the creek, and ascends to Earl Pass, on the divide between Bean and Standup Creeks at 6200′. If you plan to camp at Earl Pass, this will be your last opportunity to get water from the creek.
–At Earl Pass, there are several designated tent sites that are great options for backpackers. If you are backpacking and are planning on climbing to the summit, leave your packs at the pass and just take what you need for the hike to the top—the peak is too rocky and/or sloped to camp on during the summer.
–From the pass, the southwest ridge of Earl has bits of tread most of the way to the summit. A class 2 scramble along this path will take you to the top and its spectacular views. Several other summits along the Chelan/Kittitas border in the Teanaway area offer similar types of trips, with maintained trails and easy scrambles being the standard.

Land Ownership: Forest Service
Fees/Permits: No permit required
Additional Information:
–If you’re lucky enough to have a copy of Mary Sutliff’s Teanaway Country, you have the best source of information. The 100 Hikes series (Alpine Lakes) also has lots of good information about this area and is more easily acquired.

Reporter: Charlie Hickenbottom, 7/31/06; Allison Dappen, 8/14/06

Updates: 10/24/2017 Information here from Roger Gervin about hiking up Earl Peak in autumn with a few inches of snow on the ground from a post on NWHikers.net

Leave It Better Than You Found It. This should be every outdoor user’s goal. Pick up trash left by others, pull some noxious weeds along your route, throw branches over unwanted spur trails, don’t ride or walk wet trails when you’re leaving ruts/footprints deeper than ¼ inch…

Disclaimer. Treat this information as recommendations, not gospel. Conditions change, and those contributing these reports are volunteers–they may make mistakes or may not know all the issues affecting a route. You are still completely responsible for your decisions, your actions, and your safety. If you can’t live with that, you are prohibited from using our information.