Find Nearby Peaks

This peak is not in the book. Updated December 2024

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Peak 7042 and its neighbor Peak 7283 are two ranked summits that sit atop a ridge that separates Tex Creek from Indian Fork Creek. They can be climbed either from the northeast (a shorter climb) or from the southwest (a longer climb from Kepps Crossing Road). This area is a patchwork of private and public land but the routes described for these two peaks are entirely on BLM land. USGS Point Lookout

Southwest Access

Same as for Peak 7283. This is the final leg of a two-peak journey.

Upper Southwest Ridge, Class 2

The Climb

From the connecting saddle with Peak 7283, follow a fence row (only posts remain) northwest up Point 6972 to pick up another fence row (only posts remain) heading right/northeast down to a saddle at the base of the upper southwest ridge of Peak 7042. Be sure to stay above the aspens in the nearby gully to avoid complications. From the final saddle, scramble northeast up short field grass/scrub to the summit. There was a modest torn-down cairn on top so I rebuilt it.

Southwest Ridge/Southwest Gully, Class 2

The Descent

Descend southwest to the saddle at the base of the upper southwest ridge. Follow a fence row (only metal posts remain) southwest up the top of Point 6972. Descend a ridge line northwest to just past a nasty gully on the left/west side of the ridge to reach an open shoulder that heads left/southwest on the north side of the aforementioned gully. This shoulder descends to an obvious, wide drainage. This drainage is your ticket back to the Tex Creek drainage.

Follow the right/north side of this drainage on easy field grass down to a narrow gorge of sorts. At this point, cross to the left/south side of the drainage and jump a small creek to follow an old cattle trail that eventually moves back to the right/north side of the small creek below the gorge. As you approach the merger with Tex Creek, the cattle trail moves back to the left/south side of the small creek. Tex Creek is ugly here: it’s not a small creek, it has tall willows all around it, and it has wide, deep pools of water mixed in. Move upstream (south) to quickly find a beaver dam to cross Tex Creek. Thank God for beavers!

Once across Tex Creek, follow an old cattle trail on the right/west side of Tex Creek to the first side gully heading right/southwest. Leave the cattle trail and climb up easy grass/scrub (initially) then thicker brush/sagebrush higher up. The gully ends and you must climb left/south up to a flat, grassy area near Point 6342. From here, descend southward to Kepps Crossing Road and walk a short distance back to the parking pullout at the base of the dry gully from which this adventure began a few hours earlier.

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Alternative Route from the Northeast

Northeast Access

From US-26 exactly 24.1 miles east of the Idaho Falls Caribou-Targhee National Forest Service Office, turn right/south onto [signed] Antelope Creek Road and reset your odometer. At 3.1 miles, go left at an unsigned junction. At 6.0 miles, go right at an unsigned junction. At 6.9 miles, go right/north at an unsigned “T” junction. At 10.0 miles, the road reaches an unsigned junction with Trail Creek Road. Go left/south onto Trail Creek Road (a public access road through private land). At 13.7 miles, reach an unsigned junction with Indian Fork Road.

Turn left/south onto Indian Fork Road and drive 0.7 miles to a pullout and park (impassable mudhole at 0.8 miles). This pullout is at 6,090 feet and 43⁰25’42”N, 111⁰35’59”W. In drier conditions, you may be able to drive to the Caribou National Forest boundary and park there to shorten this climb. Antelope Creek Road is a badly rutted dirt road so be advised. Do not drive it in wet conditions. This is the first leg of a 2-peak journey that includes Peak 7042 and Peak 7283. It covers 5.5 miles with 1,600 feet of elevation gain round trip.

Northeast Shoulder, Class 2

The Climb

From the roadside pullout, hike about ¾ mile southeast up Indian Fork Road to the [signed] Caribou National Forest boundary. Leave the road here and follow an old road bed (that turns into a foot trail) heading diagonally right/south down to Indian Fork Creek in a marshy area. Amazingly, this unmapped foot trail crosses the creek on a nice wooden footbridge. The trail continues right/southwest to follow the right/northwest side of the drainage.

Leave the foot trail as it crests and begins a descent into the drainage. Bushwhack right/west up onto a shoulder in steep scrub with gaps. Continue southwest then west up the shoulder through the thick-ish scrub on elk trails and other gaps. Higher up, the scrub shortens and the slope steepens. Pop out on the small, open summit and find a large cairn.

South Face, Class 2

The Descent

From the summit, descend south-southwest in short scrub toward the east side of a saddle. Cross a drainage then head south up almost 100 vertical feet to skirt the right/west edge of a thick aspen forest that clogs any potential straight shot to the connecting saddle with Peak 7283. Descend in magnificent open terrain (almost no scrub) along a fence row to reach the bare connecting saddle at the base of the northwest ridge of Peak 7283. This concludes the first leg of today’s 2-peak adventure. Peak 7283 is up next.