Elephants Back is a 9,585-foot mountain in the Sierra Nevada of eastern California above Hope Valley in the Mokelumne Wilderness near Carson Pass. Named for its broad, rounded profile, it is an andesitic lava dome associated with the older, inactive volcanic vent at Round Top and may be one of its flank vents. Rising about 1,600 feet above Forestdale Creek in less than a mile, it is a prominent landmark, with drainage flowing east toward the West Fork Carson River and west toward Caples Lake. John C. Frémont and Kit Carson made the first known ascent on February 6, 1844, during Frémont’s second expedition.