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Heather Lake

 

Featured In: Day Hiking: North Cascades, by Craig Romano.
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Don't expect to find much heather growing along the shores of this pretty little subalpine lake. That ubiquitous mountain shrub is pretty hard to find on this hike. But what you can expect to see along the way are some mighty fine old cedars. Expect, too, to be serenaded by babbling brooks, wooed by fine views of Mount Pilchuck's craggy, rocky north face, and charmed by Heather's placid waters. Don't plan on being alone here, however; this easy trail is one of the premier stomping grounds off of the Mountain Loop Highway. On a sunny summer weekend, you'll likely encounter the entire spectrum of the hiking world, from old-timers to neophytes and everyone in between.

Heather Lake Trail No. 701 takes off into a crowded forest of second-growth fir. Colossal cedar stumps punctuate the forest floor, testaments of the impressive ancient forest that graced these slopes not too long ago. On rocky but good tread, the trail winds its way through the dark woods. A few frothing streams help break the bleakness.

After a short burst of climbing, the trail merges onto an old woods road. The grade eases to round a ridge. Soon, however, it's once again up you go. The trail then enters a cool ravine-Heather Creek tumbles below, giant old-growth cedars tower above, and bountiful boughs of ferns grace the forest floor. Your new dynamic surroundings are quite a contrast to the woods you first entered.

Cross a few more creeklets and traverse a few openings in the primeval forest. After about 1.75 miles, climbing ceases and, on a slight descent through another impressive grove of ancient giants, the trail approaches Heather Lake. At 2 miles you'll find the tranquil backcountry lake tucked in a semi-open cirque beneath Mount Pilchuck. A loop of 0.6 mile circumnavigates it. Follow it to experience the many facets of this little lake, from its jumbled boulder fields to its marshy meadows. Notice, too, the presence of yellow cedar and mountain hemlock, trees usually more associated with higher climes.

Consider a visit in midfall, when tangles of vine maple add a crimson touch. Winter is also a delightful time to visit, but stay away from the lake's southern shores, where avalanches careen down from Pilchuck's steep upper reaches.
Driving Directions:

From Granite Falls follow the Mountain Loop Highway east. One mile beyond the Verlot Public Service Center, turn right onto graveled Forest Road 42 immediately after crossing the "Blue Bridge." Drive 1.3 miles to the trailhead (elev. 1400 ft). Privy available.

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Recent Trip Reports

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There are 208 trip reports for this hike. See all trip reports for this hike.
Heather Lake — Jan 23, 2012 — Rush On
Day hike
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No problems with snow until closer to the parking lot. Parking lot full of snow and would be hard to...
No problems with snow until closer to the parking lot. Parking lot full of snow and would be hard to navigate without 4x4. But not a ton of snow on the trail itself! Many places were trekked across gravel in snowshoes. Passed two hikers in snowshoes and two without (one with just boots and the other with crampons).

Beautiful old growth towards top of trail - left too late to make it to the lake. Great hike nonetheless!
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Heather Lake, Heather Lake Snowshoe — Jan 23, 2012 — apmech2002
Day hike
Issues: Snow on trail
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Forest Road up to parking lot was in great condition. Parking lot itself has a lot of snow and...
Forest Road up to parking lot was in great condition. Parking lot itself has a lot of snow and was difficult to navigate even with 4x4. We arrived around 10:30am and made it to the lake around 1:00pm. Snowshoes probably weren't really required until after the first mile. From that point to the lake snowshoes were useful. It was our first snowshoe hike and we loved it. Lake was beautiful and was a great hike for our first time.
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Heather Lake — Jan 16, 2012 — erik the red
Day hike
Issues: Blowdowns | Snow on trail
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Trip was uneventful until Quarry Road outside Granite Falls; roads were entirely covered in snow that had frozen the night...
Trip was uneventful until Quarry Road outside Granite Falls; roads were entirely covered in snow that had frozen the night before. Only slipped twice in the rig, but drove mostly 25-30 mph up the loop. Used 4wd to get up Mt. Pilchuck Road and drove to the parking area, which had 2 rigs ahead of us by 9:45am. There was probably 3-4 inches of snow compacted in the lot.

15 minutes later, we (1 adult, 1 6.5 yo) started up the trail. We had the snowshoes strapped to the packs, as they were not needed until about 1 1/4 or 1 1/2 miles up the trail.

The trail is in good condition; only 3-4 blowdowns to navigate up/under/around/through :) We 'shoed around the left side of the lake about halfway and had a cup of cocoa and tea. It was snowing pretty good during the 45 minutes we were at the lake (probably 2" or so).

We ran into 4-5 small groups during the day, and were back down the trail by 2:15pm.

A great snowshoe. Some running water, lots of snow, decent grade climb, great for kids, dogs and families. Fun afternoon!
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Heather Lake — Jan 15, 2012 — Tareyton
Day hike
Issues: Blowdowns | Mudholes | Water on trail | Snow on trail
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Left early from Seattle and battled snow showers and sketchy road conditions all the way there. The roads in...
Left early from Seattle and battled snow showers and sketchy road conditions all the way there. The roads in Granite Falls were bad. Mountain Hwy is also bad. Forest Road 42 is only accesible with 4wd. Be careful on Forest Rd 42. On my way out going down one of the switch backs I slide for a couple of hundred feet. GO SLOW.

The trail is in good shape. Above 2000 ft it was snowing very hard and there was alot of snow. Snow shoes are deffinetly needed if you want to try and hike around the lake. I made it about half of the way around the lake and then lost the trail. I doubled back and my foot printe were already completly covered. Below 2000ft under the fresh snow is alot of slush.

All in all a fantastic hike. Views of Mt Pilchuck were non existent because it was snowing so hard.
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Heather Lake — Jan 07, 2012 — banana slug
Day hike
Issues: Blowdowns | Snow on trail
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This hike felt more like a hike in the November Northwest. No snow in the parking lot or on the...
This hike felt more like a hike in the November Northwest. No snow in the parking lot or on the trail until you get close to the lake. The trail around the lake is snow covered with the only challenge being when you cross the foot bridges, poles help. Found it a little tricky climbing over the downed tree, more so if you have dogs with you. We did see hikers carrying their snowshoes so unless it snows a bunch you won’t need snowshoes or crampons.
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heatherlake.jpg
WTA worked here!
2011
Location
Heather Lake (#701)
North Cascades -- Mountain Loop Highway
Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest, Darrington District
Statistics
Roundtrip 4.6 miles
Elevation Gain 1100 ft
Highest Point 2500 ft
Features
Lakes
Waterfalls
Old growth
Mountain views
User info
Good for kids
Northwest Forest Pass required
Guidebooks & Maps
Day Hiking: North Cascades (Romano - Mountaineers Books)
Best Hikes for Kids, Western Washington and the Cascades
Take A Hike Seattle
Hiking Snohomish County
Green Trails Granite Falls No. 109

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Note: the description and driving directions for this Mountaineers Books entry are copyrighted and can't be changed.

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Red Marker Heather Lake
48.0828833333 -121.774033333
  • Trail Work 2011
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Heather Lake- March 26, 2009

Posted by jaredc at Mar 28, 2009 01:36 PM
The road to the trailhead was fine, unless you want to go to Pilchuck! That was blocked with a 25 foot high wall of snow; make that two walls of snow. There were 4 of us and 3 of us have been up there more then a dozen times on day hikes and a few overnighters. This was the earliest we had ever been and we thought about snowshoes but dismissed the fact immediately. Needless to say, the trail had just recieved two feet of fresh snow on Wednesday night and we were the first ones up there. Keep in mind that we are all young, I am the oldest at 19 but we have all been on numerous hikes together. We had no idea what would happen on this day! We got to the top only to find that we had taken a wrong turn almost at the top (it was pretty easy to do with two feeet of new snow!) But we wound our way back around to cross the bridge over the creek (which had about 15 feet of snow on it and the steel i-beam was bent due to the wieght of the snow!) We rested and ate lunch over looking what should have been the lake and watched avalanches as we made hot soup. We made the rookie mistake of heading down with only an hour left of daylight! WARNING: If you are crossing the bridge, be EXTREMELY careful! My buddy was crossing the bridge on the way down and the snow wedged off! He fell right into Heather Creek and landed on his right foot (about a 15- 20 foot drop). He couldn't walk on it and he was wet everywhere (and it was cold out!) I had packed an extra sweatshirt (luckily) and I gave it him so that we would be dry. I beat feet down to my car (with my dog) so that I could let everyone know that we wouldn't be back on schedule and I grabbed some dry clothes, food, and a sheet. Then I headed back up the trail. Two hours later I returned with warm clothes for my buddy and with the help of my brother and his friend we wrapped his ankle tightly with pieces of the sheet so that he could walk on it. An older more experienced hiker and his dad met us up there with hot tea and warm clothes. We finally reached the truck at 3 AM (frozen) but there is a nice path to Heather Lake in the snow now! The trail is covered in snow about a third of the way up and toward the top there is about 6-8 feet of snow on the trail! Happy hiking!

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