| The Castle | |
| Elevation Ft: | 6440. |
| Prominence Ft: | 200. |
| Isolation Mi: | 0.18 |
| Isolation Ref: | [1] |
| Parent Peak: | Pinnacle Peak |
| Country: | United States |
| State: | Washington |
| Region: | Lewis |
| Region Type: | County |
| Part Type: | Protected area |
| Part: | Mount Rainier National Park |
| Range: | Cascades |
| Map: | Washington#USA |
| Label Position: | right |
| Coordinates: | 46.7578°N -121.7283°W |
| Topo: | USGS Mount Rainier East |
The Castle is a summit in Lewis County of Washington state.[2] It is part of the Tatoosh Range which is a sub-range of the Cascade Range. The Castle is located in Mount Rainier National Park, and it is 0.2 mile immediately east of Pinnacle Peak. Precipitation runoff from The Castle drains into tributaries of the Cowlitz River.
The Pinnacle Saddle Trailhead is located at Reflection Lakes and the trail to the saddle is over a mile in length. From the saddle, a climber's path traverses the south slope of Pinnacle Peak. Reaching the summit of The Castle is minimum class 4 scrambling, with climbing options.[3]
The Castle is located in the marine west coast climate zone of western North America.[4] Most weather fronts originating in the Pacific Ocean travel northeast toward the Cascade Mountains. As fronts approach, they are forced upward by the peaks of the Cascade Range (orographic lift), causing them to drop their moisture in the form of rain or snow onto the Cascades. As a result, the west side of the Cascades experiences high precipitation, especially during the winter months in the form of snowfall.[3] Because of maritime influence, snow tends to be wet and heavy, resulting in avalanche danger.[3] During winter months, weather is usually cloudy, but due to high pressure systems over the Pacific Ocean that intensify during summer months, there is often little or no cloud cover during the summer.[3]