Information about this hike provided in partnership with
Mountaineers Books.
Copyright © Dan A. Nelson/The Mountaineers Books Bear Creek Mountain
Featured In:
Day Hiking: South Cascades,
by Dan A. Nelson and Alan L. Bauer.
A portion of all book sales from the links above benefits WTA and helps protect and maintain our trails. The trail begins on the Tieton Meadow, rolling along Trail 1128 up the south flank of the Tieton Valley. After crossing the Tieton River at less than 0.25 mile, Trail 1128 skirts the marshlands for another 0.75 mile, then angles away from the valley-bottom meadows and climbs steeply to the south, winding upward through the long series of switchbacks. In the next 3.5 miles you'll stay under the forest canopy as the trail gains 2800 feet, reaching a trail junction at 4.7 miles out. Turn right and continue climbing, now moderately, along a ridgeline. This ridge crest leads into alpine meadow country as you climb west around the headwater basin of Bear Creek. At 6.5 miles (6450 feet), you'll find a small spur trail leading southwest and the main trail veers east. Turn right onto this spur to scramble the last mile up the final 900 feet of elevation gain to the rocky summit of Bear Creek Mountain. Or simply enjoy the phenomenal views from this last trail junction. You can peer up to the summit crown to the west, and eastward out along the vast expanse of the eastern slope of the Cascades.
Driving Directions:
From Packwood, drive east over White Pass, then east on U.S. Highway 12 to Rimrock Lake, and turn south onto Clear Lake Road (Forest Road 1200). Continue about 3 miles, contouring around the west end of Clear Lake, before turning south onto FR 1207 (North Fork Tieton River Road). Drive south on FR 1207 to the trailhead at the road's end. Recent Trip Reports
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Day hike
Features:
Wildflowers blooming
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Bear Creek Mountain is an all-time favorite! Because of the goofy late and heavy snows we had, the flowers are...
Bear Creek Mountain is an all-time favorite! Because of the goofy late and heavy snows we had, the flowers are all blooming at once and they are magnificent!!! Labor Day proved to be a perfect day, as there were few people on the trail. Elk hunters were getting their camps set up along the road to Section 3 Lakes, as bow season was set to start the next day. A bright orange cap or vest might be a good idea if you're venturing onto the trail during hunting season. The meadows never disappoint along the trail - we only counted one downed tree, which didn't pose any obstacle. The final mile of switchbacks was a bit dry and loose rock required carefully footing, but the rewards were amazing! A distant fire created some haze, but didn't detract from the fabulous views. If you plan to hike this trail, tote a small notepad along to replace the crumpled papers inside the canister hidden within the rocks on top. It's fun to read the names of folks who've ventured up the hill. If you're an early riser and lucky, you may see some elk moving through the meadows, as the gentleman we met at the trailhead described seeing.
Overnight
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Wildflowers blooming
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I can't say enough about what a great hike this is, but first a word about driving to the trailhead.
Most...
I can't say enough about what a great hike this is, but first a word about driving to the trailhead.
Most people this time of year hike Bear Creek Mountain from the trailhead at Section 3 Lake via FR 1204. The way up from Conrad Meadows described by Dan Nelson in Mountaineers Books' Day Hiking South Cascades is longer, harder, and less interesting - strictly an early season option. Or, as we found out, an option for those with a regular, low-clearance car. The last two miles of the drive to the Section 3 Lake trailhead on FR 1204 are NOT PASSABLE for low-clearance vehicles at this time. I know, because I tried. In an effort to improve this notoriously bad road, rock has been trucked in and ten water bars have been installed on the road. These will certainly help during the wet seasons, but the water bars are so high that passenger cars will bottom out. You might be able to make it over a couple of bars, but eventually you will be turned back (and then you have to return over them on your descent, scraping the undercarriage of your car yet again). My suggestion: park the Honda at the junction where the rock starts and walk up the road. I did see that an Outback made it to the trailhead, but that probably wasn't easy. Back to the hike - one of the few trails I have returned to because I love it so much. There's not a bad moment on this hike. The first 2.5 miles or so goes through open forest and meadows, gradually gaining elevation. We didn't see any elk, but you could tell that this area is prime grazing habitat - lots of scat and mowed down meadows. About two miles in, wildflowers begin to appear; we saw lupine, pink & yellow monkeyflower, paintbrush, hellebore, cow parsnip, mountain aster and many more, especially alongside the creeks. After 2.5 miles of easy walking, you start to climb the mountain in earnest. Plenty of evidence of Mount St. Helen's eruption here with sandy ash all about. At the top, we enjoyed the 360 degree views - from Mt. Adams in the South (looking very much like an active volcano with its little cloud plume)to Mt. Rainier to the North (partially obscured by clouds this day). In between are vast views of the William O. Douglas Wilderness and front row views of the Goat Rocks: Devil's Horn, Tieton, Old Snowy & Gilbert. Simply spectacular! My friend and I hauled our backpacks a good way up the mountain and found a wonderful camp in the ash at the bottom of a rockfall. No water here, but we scraped some snow into our pots and boiled it. Sunday morning we awoke in the middle of a cloud, packed up our camp and walked back to the trailhead and then down another 1.5 miles to where we had abandoned our cars. Day hike
Features:
Wildflowers blooming
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We drove up from Yakima at 6:00am and were hiking by 7:15.
The road was in great condition and looks to...
We drove up from Yakima at 6:00am and were hiking by 7:15.
The road was in great condition and looks to be recently maintained. The air was crisp for the first hour of the hike, but once we got going it warmed up quickly. The trail was dry and very easy to navigate. The scenery along the way, wildflowers and wilderness, are wonderful - it was like being in Mt Rainier Nat'l park minus the crowds. The last third of the hike is a leg burner, but it was nice to get up to the snow pack. The BC Canada fires are still smoking so the view was not as crisp as some of the pictures i've seen, but it is a spectacular vista. Can't wait to do it again! Day hike
Issues:
Snow on trail | Road to trailhead inaccessible
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The road to Bear Creek Mountain Trail 1130 is covered with 1 to 3 feet of snow starting about 2...
The road to Bear Creek Mountain Trail 1130 is covered with 1 to 3 feet of snow starting about 2 miles from the trailhead. A few people with jacked up 4x4’s evidently drive part way in and are turning the first ¼ mile into a muddy, rutted mess. At least one rig made it all the way to the TH. I hiked to the TH, where there is about 2 feet of snow, took a few photos, walked back down the road about ½ mile, climbed the hill to the west on 2 to 4 feet of snow until I was on top of the ridge. I then hiked south on the ridge until it became very narrow and looked down to the TH, towards Bear Creek Mountain, and to where Mount Rainier was covered with clouds. There is a blazed trail on the narrow ridge. I did see the top of Mt. Adams. I then headed back down the ridge (north) and found the upper end of Jeep road 699. There are a few triangular markers on the snow covered road, but very few, so with 2 to 4 feet of snow on the ground, I decided to hike north about 1 mile and then east back to the main road. I came out on the road about ½ mile south of my vehicle, and noticed that while I was gone the road was torn up more than it had been in the morning. There was almost 95% snow cover where I hiked. The snow is packed hard, so there wasn’t a problem with post holing. The air temperature was 39F at 8:30 a.m. and 52F when I returned to my vehicle at 3:30 p.m. It was much warmer 62F at Rimrock.
Bear Creek Mountain
— Jul 25, 2009
— crawltothetop
Day hike
Features:
Wildflowers blooming
Issues:
Snow on trail
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Great family day hike, although its easy enough to spend a night camped out at the top of the peak,...
Great family day hike, although its easy enough to spend a night camped out at the top of the peak, there's an excellent place to pitch a tent, or just throw down your bags. There is little elevation gain coming in from road 1204 until the last .9 miles to the peak. One snow patch along this portion required a go-around through loose gravel....kids should be careful. Most of the trail is through flower filled meadows and is extremely well marked, just follow the trough (trail is deep in places, almost like walking in a bucket!) We saw Elk tracks everywhere, but did not come across any Elk until on the way home on Tieton road, where a group of cows and calves ran across the road, then played around in the forest nearby until the last calf caught up. Saw a bobcat at the peak! Mt. Baker to the south and Rainier to the north were awesome but a bit socked in. Next time we'll spend the night on top.....(PS, filter water at the third stream on the way in. At the time it was the largest and fastest flowing......4 days later and we're not ill yet. Oh yeah, the bugs were light...we've had much worse)
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The stunning view from the Bear Creek Mountain trail. Photo: DaveH
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