[[Image:Manastash.JPG|right|thumb|200px|View from Manastash Ridge facing towards Ellensburg, Washington with Cascade Range in the background.]] '''Manastash Ridge''' is a long anticline mountain ridge located in central Washington state in the United States. Manastash Ridge runs mostly west-to-east in Kittitas and Yakima counties, for approximately 50 miles. The ridge is part of the Yakima Fold Belt of east-tending long ridges formed by the folding of Miocene Columbia River basalt flows.<ref>[https://gldims.cr.usgs.gov/webapps/cfusion/Sites/qfault/qf_web_disp.cfm?disp_cd=C&qfault_or=1327&ims_cf_cd=cf Complete Report for Saddle Mountains structures] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110721071428/http://gldims.cr.usgs.gov/webapps/cfusion/Sites/qfault/qf_web_disp.cfm?disp_cd=C&qfault_or=1327&ims_cf_cd=cf |date=2011-07-21 }}, USGS Earthquake Hazards Program</ref>
The name Manastash comes from the Sahaptin word /máːmaštaš/, possibly meaning "we are going root digging".<ref>{{cite book |last= Bright |first= William |title= Native American Placenames of the United States |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=5XfxzCm1qa4C&pg=PA264 |accessdate= 1 February 2023 |year= 2004 |publisher= University of Oklahoma Press |page= 264}}</ref>
The highest point in Manastash Ridge is Manastash Peak at {{convert|6335|ft|m}}, located {{convert|22.4|mi|km}} west of Ellensburg, Washington.<ref>[http://bivouac.com/MtnPg.asp?MtnId=20452 Manastash Peak], Bivouac.com</ref> Interstate 82 crosses through the eastern portion of the ridge; the Manastash Ridge Summit is located at milepost 7 of the interstate (south of Ellensburg) or about {{convert|24|mi|km}} north of Yakima, Washington at an elevation of {{convert|2672|ft|m}}.
In addition to Manastash Peak, Manastash Ridge includes the peaks of Quartz Mountain ({{convert|6289|ft|m}}), Mount Clifty ({{convert|6243|ft|m}}), and Lookout Mountain ({{convert|6188|ft|m}}). The astronomy department of the University of Washington maintains the Manastash Ridge Observatory, located about {{convert|9|mi|km}} west-southwest of Ellensburg.
The northernmost edge of Manastash Ridge has a network of 14 official trails that span {{convert|20|mi|km}} and are based on a larger system that were developed in the 1960s by Ellensburg-based alpinists. The Manastash Ridge Trails Coalition was formed in 2016 to promote conservation of land on the ridge and improvement of trails, which saw increasing use as Ellensburg's population grew. The lands are owned by the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, which took over maintenance of the trails in the 2020s.<ref>{{cite news |last=Bicchieri |first=Paolo |date=October 16, 2024 |title=As Ellensburg grows, the town's best hiking area tries to keep pace |url=https://www.seattletimes.com/life/outdoors/as-ellensburg-grows-the-towns-best-hiking-area-tries-to-keep-pace/ |work=The Seattle Times |accessdate=July 7, 2025}}</ref>
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== *[http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/traffic/passes/manastash/default.aspx Manastash Ridge road conditions] *[http://bivouac.com/RggPg.asp?RggId=1568 Bivouac.com - Canadian Mountain Encyclopedia - Manastash Region page] *[http://www.astro.washington.edu/laws/MRO/home.page/mro.html Manastash Ridge Observatory page] *{{GNIS|1506443|Manastash Ridge}} {{coord|46|51|28|N|120|20|52|W|display=title}}
{{Washington State hills and ridges}}
Category:Ridges of Washington (state) Category:Landforms of Kittitas County, Washington Category:Ridges of Yakima County, Washington Category:Washington (state) placenames of Native American origin