Cardinal Peak is the highest summit in Washington’s Chelan Mountains, a subrange of the Cascades, and rises in Wenatchee National Forest between the Entiat River drainage basin and Lake Chelan. Although it lies less than 5 miles from the lake, it towers about 7,500 feet above the lakeshore, giving it unusually steep local relief. At 8,595 feet, it ranks as Washington’s 49th highest peak, and its 2,070-foot prominence makes it the dominant summit of its local range. Formed mainly of granodiorite and hornblende quartz diorite, it was named by Albert H. Sylvester for being the highest peak in the region.