A land of immense natural beauty teetering on the extreme eastern end of the North Cascades, Horseshoe Basin has long been a favorite destination for backpackers. With sprawling alpine tundra, shimmering tarns, a half-dozen wide-open, easy-to-scramble summits, and spectacular wildlife observing, it's no wonder visitors prefer to spend days here. But Horseshoe Basin's fairly easy approach and gentle terrain make it a dead ringer for day hikers too. You won't be able to experience it all. But you'll get a nice taste-and by traveling lightly in this precious area you'll leave less of an impact than all of those backpackers.

Setting out on the Boundary Trail (a 73-mile odyssey across the Pasayten), immediately enter wilderness and begin a slow descent on what was once a service road to a mine. In 0.25 mile cross a meadow with a nice view west to Windy Peak. Then enter lodgepole pine forest burnt to a crisp in the Tripod Fire of 2006, a conflagration that scorched over 175,000 Okanogan acres. Most of the way to Sunny Pass traverses the burn. A healthy forest will return, but in the meanwhile this hike can be hot in summer (no forest cover) and potentially hazardous in strong winds (falling snags).

At 0.7 mile come to a junction with the Deer Park Trail and, shortly afterward, with the Clutch Creek Trail. At 1.5 miles cross a branch of Clutch Creek (elev. 6000 ft) and begin winding upward at a nice grade. Work crews with the Pacific Northwest Trail Association have nicely restored tread and repaired water bars damaged from the 2006 fire.

At 3.3 miles break out from the blackened snags (woodpecker heaven) into a lush verdant meadow garnished with a multitude of wildflowers (bluebird mecca). Sunny Pass shines ahead.

Continue upward through increasingly greener pastures, crossing gurgling creeklets and skipping through showy flower gardens to reach 7200-foot Sunny Pass at 4.8 miles. Horseshoe Basin, with its stable of stunning peaks carpeted in alpine tundra, spreads out before you. Take the trail to the right for closer inspection. In 0.1 mile ignore the Albert Camp Trail by continuing left. And after losing 200 feet in just over 1 mile, arrive dead-on in wide-open Horseshoe Basin. Sit and gape or consider your roaming options.