Dunraven Peak

Overview

Located almost centrally in Yellowstone National Park, Dunraven Peak, on a clear day, will offer views that include nearby Mount Washburn, the distant Absaroka and Gallatin Ranges, the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone, and steam rising from several geothermal areas. From its summit and slopes, you can also watch the lines of ants crawling up and down the popular Mount Washburn Trail while most likely having Dunraven to yourself.

After Mount Washburn, Dunraven Peak is the second-highest peak in the small Washburn Range.

If there is a summit cairn or register, I am unaware of either; my pictures will reveal heavy snow cover the day I was there (waist-deep drifts in places), so features such as cairns, registers, and use trails, if they exist at all, were likely buried.

Name information from Wikipedia:

"In 1874, just two years after the park's creation, the Earl of Dunraven, a titled Englishman made a visit to Yellowstone in conjunction with a hunting expedition lead by Texas Jack Omohundro to the Northern Rockies. He was so impressed with the park, that he devoted well over 150 pages to Yellowstone in his The Great Divide, published in London in 1874. The Great Divide was one of the earliest works to praise and publicize the park.

In 1878 during a U.S. Geological Survey of the park, Henry Gannett, a geographer working with the survey, named a peak just two miles southwest of Mount Washburn in the honor of the Earl of Dunraven and the service his book had done for the park. In 1879, Philetus Norris, the park superintendent gave a pass on the Grand Loop Road between Tower and Canyon the name Dunraven Pass because of its proximity to Dunraven Peak."

Getting There

From the Tower Falls area, drive south to Dunraven Pass and park. From the Canyon area, drive north to the same location. The parking area is about 9 miles from either.

Route

Cross the road and head up steep slopes to access the ridgeline. Dunraven Pass is at about 8900', and you are looking at elevation gain of 1000-1100' over 1-1.5 mi. For all I know, there is a use trail to the summit, but as my pictures suggest, that was not an option that day. My path of leas resistance did take me to some rock outcrops where I did some Class 3 scrambling, but I imagine that in summer this ascent can be all hiking.

Red Tape

I believe the 2017 entrance fee was $30 for a passenger vehicle, good for a week. Annual and interagency passes are available and may provide a better value. Check the linked park website for current information.

Grizzly bears are out here. It is your responsibility to know how to behave in their home.

Almost all of Yellowstone's roads, including the one between Tower Falls and Canyon, close from late fall through early spring (sometimes they close earlier and open later).

When to Climb

Late spring through early fall are best because roads should be open and snow cover should be light or nonexistent. However, winter can arrive early or stay late; the pictures I have posted here were from late September after a storm that dumped two feet of fresh snows in some areas.

Camping

Campsites at Tower Falls are not reserveable; sites at Canyon are.

External Links