Find Nearby Peaks

This peak is not in the book. Published November 2021

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The Sentinel is located at the south end of the developed part of the Craters of the Moon National Monument. USGS The Watchman

Access

This is the first peak of a 5-peak adventure in the south half of CMNM that includes The Sentinel (5,812 feet), The Watchman (5,858 feet), Echo Crater (5,847 feet), Coyote Butte (5,909 feet) and Crescent Butte (5,990 feet). It covers 14.5 miles with 2,050 feet of elevation gain round trip.

From the signed entrance to Craters of the Moon National Monument (CMNM) on US-20, drive 3.4 miles south on the main “Loop Road” to a signed junction for “Tree Molds.” Turn right/south onto “Tree Molds Road” and drive 1.2 miles to the large trailhead parking lot and end of the road (5,860 feet). This is the parking area for two separate trailheads: Tree Molds Trail and Broken Top Loop Trail.

Northeast Face, Class 2

The Climb

From the parking lot, hike east on a paved pathway alongside “Tree Molds Road” to quickly reach a signed trail junction for the Broken Top Loop Trail. Go right/southeast onto the trail and follow it southeast then east for 0.5 miles to a signed “T” junction with the Wilderness Trail. Hike southeast on the Wilderness Trail for about 4.3 miles to its unceremonious end. Continue southeast on a weak footpath on the northeast side of The Sentinel to get close to the rocky summit ridge. Scramble a short distance south to the ridge crest in easy, short scrub. The summit high point is at the far southeast end of the long summit ridgeline. There is no summit cairn.

From the summit, descend north down the sagebrush-covered northeast face to reach the 5,590-foot connecting saddle with The Watchman. This concludes the first leg of today’s 5-peak adventure. The Watchman is up next.