WTA Hiking Guide
September 2009 Update: Select content from the Mountaineers Books'
"Day Hiking" series comprising titles covering six regions in
Washington is now incorporated into the Hiking Guide. Sales of the
full books from this website, which include maps, elevation
profiles, photos and more, benefit WTA and help protect and
maintain our trails.
Search for a hike...
Locate hike descriptions and trip reports for more than 2500 hikes in Washington. Because the search features are new, use hike name or region for most comprehensive results. And please consider adding missing descriptions and hike data to the Hiking Guide to help make this the most useful online resource for hiking in Washington!
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Bear Creek Mountain
(5 votes)
South Cascades -- White Pass / Cowlitz River Valley
Bear Creek Mountain (#1130)
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After the first mile, you'll climb relentlessly, for much of the way in dense forests with few or no views. But the payoff for this thigh-burning, lung-tearing workout: incredible vistas from atop one of the highest peaks on the easternmost flank of the Goat Rocks.
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Lake Isabel
(3 votes)
Central Cascades -- Stevens Pass - West
(Mt. Baker/Snoqualmie NF, Skykomish District)
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Large mountain lake close to Highway 2 and not far from major Western Washington urban areas.
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Lakes
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Gold Creek
(7 votes)
Snoqualmie Pass -- Snoqualmie Pass
(Mt. Baker-Snoqulamie Ranger District)
Gold Creek (#1314)
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In summer, hike Gold Creek to travel through a beautiful wilderness valley, just a few miles after leaving the hum and hustle of I-90. In winter, a blanket of snow here transforms the area into snowshoeing and cross country skiing haven.
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The view from Pugh seems too good to be true! The Olympics, Three Fingers, Baker, Shuksan, Rainier, Stuart, the Monte Cristo massif, and nearly every peak ringing the Mountain Loop Highway are in full view from this cloud-piercing peak. Rising over 7000 feet, this lofty summit provides one of the best alpine showings in all of western Washington. And even with its crowded field of summit stars, Glacier Peak dominating the eastern horizon steals the show. Snowy, showy Sloan Peak makes a stellar appearance as well.
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Mountain views
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This is one of the most popular hikes along the US 2 corridor, and it's easy to understand why: a historic and active fire lookout, an enclave for mountain goats, miles of flower-blooming meadows, jaw-slacking views of Lake Wenatchee, Glacier Peak, and hundreds of other peaks. It's amazing there aren't more hikers sunning themselves on this Nason Ridge summit. And being on one of the area's first high peaks to shed its winter snows, Alpine Lookout makes for an excellent early summer adventure. But a few blemishes make this well-esteemed hike less than perfect. The first 1.6 miles are quite steep. The next 3 miles are open to motorcycles. And the entire 5 miles is bone dry for much of the season. Get an early start, pack plenty of water, and avoid busy weekends.
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Grand views, spectacular spring wildflowers, and easy access make this a great after-work outing or an early spring escape. The route follows an old logging road turned trail up a rock-rimmed mountain, providing hikers a good workout absent crowds.
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Loowit
(4 votes)
South Cascades -- Mt. St. Helens
(Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument)
Loowit (#216)
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Ready for a stunning long hike through the otherwordly landscape of Mount St. Helens? The Loowit Trail reveals the volcano and the blast zone in all its raw glory.
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Rivers, Waterfalls, Mountain views, Ridges/passes, Established campsites
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Leisurely hike to a quiet backcountry
lake ringed with grassy meadows and big trees, or break a sweat to the Little Divide, the loneliest outpost in the Sol Duc country. Lacking the panoramic vistas that the High Divide is notorious for, Little Divide trades views for solitude. You're far more likely to encounter deer, elk, and bear than fellow hikers in this neck of the Sol Duc.
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Purcell Lookout
(3 votes)
South Cascades -- White Pass / Cowlitz River Valley
Purcell Lookout (#285)
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To get to the site of the old Purcell Lookout, you have a choice: hike all the way from U.S. Highway 12, or let your car do part of the work. The Purcell Mountain Trail, which begins just west of the left-hand turn to Forest Road 63, leads 7.6 pleasant miles up the mountain to grand views at the lookout. The better option, though, is to take the Purcell Lookout Trail for a shorter, but still rugged, day hike.
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Though the trail is lovely, it's not exactly a thrill--not until you reach the end of the route. There, you'll find yourself swinging on a cable suspension bridge and cooling your heels on an actual glacier. Getting to those highlights, you'll trek along an old miners' road paralleling the Carbon River upstream. This frothy river boasts some serious white water, but it's not because of the rapids (which are generally small and not too frothy). Rather, the whiteness of the water comes from all the powder-fine silt ground up by the moving glacier. This water, known as "glacier milk," is deathly cold (remember, it's melted glacier ice from just a few miles upstream), so regardless of the heat, steer clear of the river itself.
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Glacier View
(5 votes)
South Cascades
(Gifford Pinchot National Forest, Randle Ranger District)
Glacier View (#267)
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This trail stays just outside Mount Rainier National Park, but the highlights of the trek are the outstanding views east to the glaciers that cover the west flank of the big volcano. The trail is relatively flat and open, though at times the tread is rough and brushy--maintenance of the trail is a once-in-a-while occurrence. Fortunately, the path is easy to follow and offers a wonderfully unique view of Mount Rainier. Few people get to see the west face of the mountain from this close. Since the trail is completely outside the park, dogs are welcome on it.
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Wildflowers/Meadows, Mountain views, Summits, Ridges/passes
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Gothic Basin - Monte Cristo
(13 votes)
North Cascades -- Mountain Loop Highway
(Mount Baker Snoqualmie National Forest)
Gothic Basin (#724)
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Rugged and spectacular-yes. Gothic, perhaps, for this stark and mysterious basin harbors hidden tarns and disappearing waterways and is surrounded by spiraling peaks. A difficult hike on steep and rocky terrain, Gothic Basin with all its rich beauty can't keep hikers away; just as it couldn't keep miners away a century ago with its lure of riches. It was those hardy folk who built this path. It has been upgraded since-somewhat. The splendor of the basin, however, can't be improved one bit. Past glaciers and the agents of erosion have left it pretty darn near to perfect.
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Rivers, Lakes, Waterfalls, Wildflowers/Meadows, Mountain views, Established campsites
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Tatie Peak and Grasshopper Pass
(10 votes)
North Cascades -- East Slope
(Okanogan National Forest, Methow Valley Ranger District)
Grasshopper Pass (#2000)
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Ranking among the supreme ridge-running, cloud-probing, peak-peering jaunts in all of the North Cascades, the trek to Grasshopper Pass will have you hopping with joy with its nonstop horizon-spanning views of jagged ridges and colossal summits. Best of all, this alpine rapture is achieved with minimal effort. The trail starts high and stays high. And with the trail's gentle ups and down, most hikers young and old, two and four legged will have no problem making the journey.
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Wildflowers/Meadows, Mountain views, Summits, Ridges/passes, Established campsites
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All you have to do to enjoy this trail is survive perhaps the worst road in the Cascades. But the long, slow drive (crawl) is worth it. You'll ramble through groves of ancient forests, cross massive avalanche chutes choked with slide alder and salmonberries, and enjoy endless views of the stunning peaks of the upper Snoqualmie River watershed. Reap maximum benefit by visiting in late summer through early fall: (1) because by September most of the mosquitoes are dead and gone; (2) because cooler nights add brilliant color to the vine maples and slide alders; and (3) because ripe huckleberries await at the upper end of the valley.
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Pack a fishing pole and a camera. There are many meal-sized trout in this basin's lakes, and there are endless views to enjoy both on the trail and at the trail's end. The route pierces the old-growth forest in the valley as it enters the Alpine Lakes Wilderness and leads to glorious examples of the wilderness's namesake lakes. Hester Lake sprawls below Mount Price, and short scrambles are possible to Little Hester Lake and the scenic ridges around the basin.
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Following the Wonderland Trail, this route explores the floor of Stevens Canyon, and along the way, you'll find a number of waterfalls along Stevens Creek and its tributaries. The trail is broad and generally well maintained, though the 2006 storms took out some of the bridges and washed out one section of trail. As of this writing, this section of the Wonderland Trail is closed, though repairs are underway. Hikers should contact the park before venturing out.
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West Defiance - Putrid Pete's Peak
(2 votes)
Snoqualmie Pass -- North Bend Area
(Snoqualmie Ranger District)
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Hike through forest, then up steep, open slopes to a magnificent ridge top.
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Wildflowers/Meadows, Mountain views, Summits, Ridges/passes
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This is an abandoned trail that heads south along Rainy Creek off of the downstream side of Middle Fork Snoqualmie Trail.
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Rivers, Lakes, Old growth
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An easy all-day hike along a roaring wild waterway embraced by coniferous giants, or a very long all-day hike to a pair of subalpine lakes in the shadows of the jagged Sawtooth Range. Neither hike is particularly difficult; they just require endurance and some good aerobic conditioning because of their lengths. No matter your destination, though, you'll have plenty of company. The North Fork Skokomish River valley has been attracting legions of hikers ever since Lieutenant O'Neil and his boys passed this way shortly after Washington became a state.
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Cultus Creek
(4 votes)
South Cascades -- Indian Heaven / Trapper Creek
(Gifford Pinchot National Forest)
Cultus Creek (#108)
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Lakes
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Sasse Ridge offers views nearly as good as those found from Jolly Mountain without the muscle-ripping climb. You'll work hard for just over a mile, but then you have several miles of ridgetop meandering through meadows and over view-rich peaks. Few hikers visit this trail, so you can stride out and enjoy a quiet hike, stopping as often and for as long as you want to enjoy the fields of wildflowers on the dry (bring water), wind-swept ridge.
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Lake Twentytwo
(32 votes)
North Cascades -- Mountain Loop Highway
(Mt. Baker Snoqualmie National Forest, Darrington Ranger District)
Lake 22 (#702)
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Perched in a spectacular basin at the base of Mount Pilchuck's sheer northern face, sparkling Lake Twentytwo is a stunning sight. But there's more to this popular hike than the picturesque lake and its backdrop of waterfalls and avalanche chutes. For much of the way the well-constructed trail follows cascading Twentytwo Creek through an exemplary ancient forest of gargantuan cedars. An excellent hike to acquaint children and neophytes with the natural world-just don't expect to be alone on this favorite of many a Puget Sound hiker.
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Rivers, Lakes, Waterfalls, Old growth
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Pine and fir forest fill the valley of Union Creek, providing a cool retreat from the heat of summer. Explore open meadows and shadow-laden forests, watching for the deer and elk that browse through the valley and the birds that swarm the clusters of berry bushes and bug-rich creekbed. Dippers (a.k.a. water ouzels) plunge into the water to snatch up aquatic insects. Hammer-headed woodpeckers and flickers pound out a bass line behind the melody of twittering nuthatches and trilling juncos. Not everyone will hear these feathered musicians--they have to take a break between sets--but everyone can enjoy the fragrant pine forest and, from the end of the trail, the spectacular views over the valley and beyond.
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You'll feel jolly on top, but you'll jolly-well earn it. As you climb the trail you'll be questioning the value of the views from the top--are they worth the thigh-burning, lung-popping workout of the ascent? But once you reach the top, you'll forget the sweat and tears of the trail as you soak in the mind-numbing, eye-pleasing panorama encircling you.
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Travel along a rugged knolled snowy and rocky spine above glaciers and barren slopes to almost within embracing distance of majestic Baker. Across alpine tundra, and snowfields that never retreat in summer's heat, feel the pulse of the frozen volcano on this hike. But be forewarned: this trail is more of a climbers path, rough and sketchy in spots, buried beneath snow in others. Take ice ax and map and turn around when the going gets spooky. If you're prepared and conditions are good, however, your journey across Ptarmigan Ridge will be one of the most stimulating and exhilarating in your life.
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The Bogachiel River snakes through Washington's forgotten rain forest. No main roads run along this major Olympic river, nor penetrate its wild valley. There are no visitors centers here either. No interpretive trails or developed campgrounds amid the towering spruce and fir. There's nothing fancy here at all-just a quiet backcountry trail through pure rainforest wilderness.
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Rivers, Old growth, Established campsites
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A short .5 mile hike, taking you to the top of Blue Mountain. Views of the Cascades, Vancouver Island/Strait of Juan De Fuca, Gray wolf Ridge, and so much more
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Wildflowers/Meadows, Mountain views, Summits
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The Big Quilcene Trail to Marmot Pass is one of the most popular trails in the Olympic National Forest. What many hikers don't realize is that it was once twice as long. The road delivering them to the trailhead severed it in two. Good news, though, the entire trail still exists, the eastern 6 miles now known as the Lower Big Quilcene Trail. And although not in the Buckhorn Wilderness, it's still quite wild in places. Much of the route runs through a rugged canyon cloaked in primeval forest. And while past logging has eaten away at the periphery, plenty of ancient groves grace the way.
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Cascade Pass and Sahale Arm
(13 votes)
North Cascades -- North Cascades Highway
(North Cascades National Park)
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This is one of the most scenic, most accessible (including for kids, at least to the pass), and not surprisingly the most crowded high-country romps in the North Cascades-and the only trailhead in the 684,000-acre North Cascades National Park that you can drive to. Mixed in with the throngs of Puget Sound hikers are folks from Munich, Tokyo, and Kalamazoo. And none of them return disappointed after frolicking among fields of flowers, peaks of ice, and boulders bearing basking marmots-some of the most outstanding alpine landscapes to be found anywhere in the world.
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Lakes, Old growth, Wildflowers/Meadows, Mountain views, Wildlife, Ridges/passes
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