Tells Peak is a mountain in the Sierra Nevada at the very north end of the Crystal Range (California), to the west of Lake Tahoe

Lake Tahoe

Lake Tahoe is a large freshwater lake in the Sierra Nevada of the United States. At a surface elevation of , it is located along the border between California and Nevada, west of Carson City. Lake Tahoe is the largest alpine lake in North America. Its depth is , making it the USA's second-deepest...

. It is located in the Desolation Wilderness

Desolation Wilderness

The Desolation Wilderness is a federally protected wilderness area located along the crest of the Sierra Nevada mountain range, just southwest of Lake Tahoe in El Dorado County, California, United States. It is a popular backpacking destination, with much barren rocky terrain at the edge of the...

 in El Dorado County, California

El Dorado County, California

El Dorado County is a county located in the historic Gold Country in the Sierra Nevada Mountains and foothills of the U.S. state of California. The 2010 population was 181,058. The El Dorado county seat is in Placerville....

.

The origin of the name is not certain. It is probably named for a Swiss homesteader named Tell who lived a few miles to the west. At least one historian believes it was named for Ciperano Pedrini, a storekeeper in Garden Valley

Garden Valley, El Dorado County, California

Garden Valley is an unincorporated community in El Dorado County, California. It is located on Johntown Creek north-northwest of Chili Bar, at an elevation of 1949 feet ....

, who was known as Bill Tell.