Dragontail Peak is the second-highest summit in Washington’s Stuart Range, rising in the Alpine Lakes Wilderness near the Enchantments, Colchuck Lake, and Colchuck Glacier. Named for two rock needles on a ridge southwest of the summit that reminded climbers Lex Maxwell, Bob McCall, and Bill Prater of a dragon’s tail, the name was officially accepted in 1955. Those needles later became demanding alpine climbing objectives. The mountain is formed from the granite of the Stuart Range and shaped by glaciation, uplift, and faulting. Its steep, dramatic terrain and heavy Cascade snowfall make travel and climbing especially serious in this protected wilderness landscape.