Switchback Peak is an 8,321-foot mountain on Sawtooth Ridge in Washington’s Methow Mountains, within the Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest. Among the range’s highest summits, it rises in a notably rugged part of the North Cascades shaped by terrane accretion, volcanic activity, and repeated Pleistocene glaciation that carved deep valleys and sharp relief. East of the Cascade crest, the area is somewhat drier than the western slopes but still receives heavy precipitation, especially winter snow from Pacific weather systems. Runoff from the mountain drains west toward Lake Chelan through Prince Creek and east into tributaries of the Methow River. Its importance lies in its place within the dramatic, protected, high glaciated landscape of Sawtooth Ridge.