Hike of the Week: Sherman Peak

Silver snags and golden views from the Sherman Loop

Sherman Peak

In general-the views are great!




by Craig Romano
photo by Craig Romano
produced by Michael Fagin

October 20, 2006

Quick Facts
Location: Kettle River Range, Ferry County
Land Agency: (US Forest Service) Colville National Forest
Roundtrip: 5.3 miles
Elevation gain: 900 feet
Access: From Republic follow SR 20 17 miles east to Sherman Pass. Park at Kettle Crest Trailhead.
Notes: Hunting season has begun, wear orange.


The Sherman Loop allows you to enjoy striking views of a landscape struck by the forces of nature. This 5.3 mile hike takes you on a full-circle tour around 7,011-foot Sherman Peak, revealing this mountain’s two contrasting sides; a forest of lush green old-growth, and one scorched by wildfire leaving a surrealistic landscape of silver snags. And now in mid-Autumn, Sherman’s stands of larches are streaking the surrounding Kettle Crest in gold.
Head south on the Kettle Crest Trail; cross SR 20 and start ascending. Under a cool canopy of larch, fir, and pine the trail twists and turns out of Sherman Pass. Soon you’ll come to the loop junction; bear left. Now, skirt beneath a steep hillside of ledge and scree; and then stop to take in a breathtaking view of the Sherman Creek Valley. The normally deep emerald valley is currently laced with soft yellow patches thanks to the larches.
Continue up higher onto Sherman’s eastern ridge. Thanks to the White Mountain Fire of 1988 which seared over 20,000 acres of Kettle Crest greenery, enter a radically different world. Through the skeletal remains of what was once a thriving forest, continue climbing.
As you round the pyramidal summit of Sherman Peak, signs are all around that the forest is coming back to life. A new row of greenery is slowly overtaking the silver snags and blackened stumps. Ground squirrels kick up dust, deer leave fresh imprints behind, and birds flit and perch throughout the recovering landscape.
Reach a junction and return right on the Sherman Loop Trail to close the loop. For a longer journey, consider visiting Sherman’s summit. It’s an easy scramble from the eastern ridge. From this lofty Kettle Mountain Peak, enjoy views stretching from the North Cascades to the Selkirk Mountains. General Sherman (of Civil War fame, who this peak is named for) once said “War is Hell,” but up here on the Kettle Crest, it’s nothing but heaven.

The Sherman Peak loop is one of the hikes described in my new book; Columbia Highlands: Exploring Washington’s Last Frontier (Mountaineers Books), to be released in the spring of 2007.