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Ingalls Creek

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Featured In: Day Hiking: Central Cascades, by Craig Romano.
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Venture into a deep wilderness valley shadowed by craggy pinnacles of the Stuart Range and the Wenatchee Mountains' broad flank of summits. Located in one of the largest roadless valleys in the Central Cascades, Ingalls Creek drains a vast area of rugged and stunning beauty. Continuously following the wilderness waterway, let rapids and ripples, crashing cascades and swirling eddies mesmerize you along the way. Come in spring and enjoy a trail lined with flowers-paintbrush, lupine, trillium, glacier lilies, and more.

Starting from the site of a long-gone lodge and cabins (look for foundations), the well-trodden trail takes off into a forest of pine and fir that bears scars from a 1990s fire. The creek nearby is always within sight or sound of the trail-especially the latter. In late spring it can be downright deafening. Save conversation for the ride home. The roaring creek does, however, have a nice upside. It funnels a stream of cool air down the valley, providing nice air-conditioning on hot days.

At 1 mile come to a pleasant creekside campsite, which easily doubles as a stuff-your-face or cut-some-afternoon-Zs spot. There are plenty more farther upstream. Cross a small scree slope and steadily climb above the careening creek. Pass a boulder yard and big, beautiful ponderosa pines. At 2 miles the trail hugs the creek at a cavalcade of rapids before passing beneath granite cliffs. Window views to the imposing surrounding summits soon open up.

After passing a lone giant pine at about 3 miles, you may see some rusty pipes and debris scattered about. An old mine perhaps? Then hop over a side creek, traverse a cool cedar grove, and cross a brushy avalanche slope before making a short, steep climb to a rocky knoll with an excellent view downstream.

Continuing, the way descends slightly to meet up once again with the raucous waterway. Approaching Ingalls' confluence with Falls Creek that tumbles down from the high slopes of Navaho Peak, the trail crosses an avalanche slope stripped down to bedrock. It then enters a lush flat of old-growth firs and spruce, meeting up at 5.5 miles with the Falls Creek Trail (elev. 3450 ft). Head down to an inviting gravel bar and take a break. Watch for harlequin ducks and dippers while replenishing.

Driving Directions:

From Cle Elum follow State Route 970 east for 7 miles to US 97. Continue north on US 97 for 14 miles to Blewett Pass. Proceed another 14 miles on US 97, turning left at milepost 178 onto Ingalls Creek Road. (From Wenatchee follow US 97/2 west for 15 miles. Turn left onto US 97 and proceed for 7 miles to Ingalls Creek Road.) Cross Peshastin Creek, bear left, and continue for 1.2 miles to the trailhead at the road's end. (elev. 2000 ft). Privy available.

Recent Trip Reports

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There are 153 trip reports for this hike. See all trip reports for this hike.

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Ingalls Creek — Jan 17, 2012 — digity777

Day hike

Issues: Blowdowns | Water on trail | Snow on trail

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So far this winter no snow in the valley just up high, so out i headed for 7000+ 3 brothers...

So far this winter no snow in the valley just up high, so out i headed for 7000+ 3 brothers mtn. for a little snowshoe trip. As i headed out i noticed a differance from the rest of the mornings so far this winter, there was white stuff everywere.
The radio was declaring bad conditions on all major hwy. Of interest to me was the closer of blewett pass. My access to the trail being right in the middle of the nasty weather, so i oppted for a valley trip up Ingalls Creek.
There was a couple trucks at the trail head and 2 snowplows parked there having lunch, couldnt have timed it better the road was fresh plowed right to the trail.
The trail could be made out fairly easy by following the footprints of the last snowshoe group that had been threw, however they were quickly filling in with fresh powder that was coming down thick.
3 Miles into the hike I came accross the owners of the tracks 2 gentlemen that had been on a 7 day trip up valley and headed back a couple days early due to strom coming in. I dont know how others feel but when im out there by myself, a couple min. to talk to a friendly face breaks up the silence nicely.
I ran out of time at the 5.5 mile mark (Falls Creek) and had to almost run all the way back down to be on time picking my children up from school. How i love the summer when they can join me.
To sum it up several feet of snow on trail and was coming down pretty good when i left area, couple water crossings and blowdowns but nothing that should slow you down. The snow is a very lite powder and falls in ontop of snowshoes as soon as you step down, no staying on top. The trees are holding alot of snow and every once in a while a mass pile will drop on you completely whiting you out, till shook free. Its like dust its so dry and light. There are a couple spots to push threw grown over brush from this past summer. once again shouldnt slow you down. Views of the river running threw all the snow covered rocks is buetifull, and only wildlife seen were couple woodpeckers and squirls. elevation gain around 1500

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Longs Pass, Ingalls Creek, Cascade Creek, Navaho Pass, Beverly Turnpike, Bean Creek Basin, Iron Peak — Aug 08, 2011 — imaginejoy

Multi-night backpack

Features: Wildflowers blooming

Issues: Blowdowns | Overgrown

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Spectacular flowers and views and very little snow. However we did meet a few obstacles. Day 1: Started at Esmeralda...

Spectacular flowers and views and very little snow. However we did meet a few obstacles.
Day 1: Started at Esmeralda Basin up over Longs Pass, down the other side about 1/2 way to Ingalls Creek there is are a couple of nice camping spots. Moderately buggy - but the flowers were spectacular. The trail down from Longs Pass is a dotted line on the map. Not at all hard to find - but quite steep (with 20 foot switch backs) on lots of slippery scrabble. The climbers use it all the time.
Day 2. Day hike up to Stuart Pass. Beautiful flowers on the way -VERY buggy. We planned to pick up packs on the way back and head down Ingalls Creek to camp. If we had it to do over again we would have brought our gear down to the trail junction before heading up to the pass. Instead we had a pretty steep climb up and back before heading off for a campsite. Camped at Fourth creek. Crossing at Ingalls Creek looked harder and harder as we went down stream. It was doable (took shoes off and waded) at the trail junction. Did not look at ALL friendly at Fourth Creek. Did not attempt.
Day 3. Checked out crossing at Hardscrabble Creek "in case" we couldn't cross at Cascade Creek. Looked not doable. High fast water, no logs. Crossed at Cascade Creek with no trouble. 2 perfectly placed logs and a series of boulders made it easy. Without them it would have been impossible. No way to avoid waist high fast water. The Cascade Creek trail was another story. TAKE A GPS OR ALTIMETER. This trail is EXTREMELY hard to follow. If we had read the previous post before we left we might have not chosen this route. Our route was an ascent instead of a descent (previous hiker). Lucked out by finding the trail head. It is obscured by 7 foot brush.... Lots of moving brush, climbing over large logs and then trying desperately to find the trail again. "Blowdowns" now has an entirely new meaning. Some sections everything is blown down and there are no blazes to follow. We ended up scouting over a hundred yards in various directions to find trail on several occassions. Other sections include traverses across steep soft scrabble where there is only the slightest hint of the trail. The three of us often branched out in small scouting missions to determine what might be animal trail vs. human trail... then over and over again we'd find ourselves lost - and gradually re-find the trail. As the other hiker noted the trail totally disappears when you enter the meadow. Totally. So there we were, hiking in meadow flowers up to our shoulders - trying desperately to find some semblance of trail. After many false moves and map consultations we finally decided we were too far north and followed the contour south hoping (praying) we would find the trail. We did - and it was pretty obvious by the time we picked it back up. We only had about 4 more "find the trail" parties after that. We were relieved to reach the top - 4.5 hours after we started (steady hiking) - but according to the map, only 2.9 miles further into our journey. It is slow going. If it doesn't get some trail work or a lot more traffic it will be lost. If you do decide to try it out (we obviously succeeded) it would be nice to bring some red plastic tape to help others find the trail where the blowdowns are so extensive and where erosion and wildness are winning. Maybe then others could keep the trail active through use. Navaho pass is quite spectacular (Maybe we were just really relieved to have finally made it!). Recommend camping in the flat area (obvious campsites with water) about half a mile or so below the pass... there isn't much else if you are headed towards Bean Creek.
Day 4. Early morning day hike up to Navaho Peak. Spectacular views! Worth it. Flowers still glorious. Then back down, up trail 1369, then 1391( Bean Creek) toward Beverly Creek trail. Every pass had great views. Lots of meadows, flowers - and this part of the trip had few bugs. Camped at the intersection of the Beverly Creek and Fourth Creek trails.
Day 5. Easy hike out to the road (trail 1399). This section was probably the least interesting of all of the pieces. Fewer flowers. Got to the road and within minutes got a ride back up to the car at Esmeralda Basin. Hiking partner counted 15 cars in 15 minutes (a Friday morning around 10:15).
The whole trip was a wonderful loop - and except for the Cascade Creek trail- was great hiking. We saw 1 backpacker and 4 hikers the first day, 1 on the third day,1 on the 4th and 3 going in as we were coming out on the last day. Kind of surprising as this was one of the few really snow-free loops at the time.

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Ingalls Creek — Jul 15, 2011 — SSoundHiker

Multi-night backpack

Features: Wildflowers blooming

Issues: Overgrown | Bugs

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First time hiking this trail. Really enjoyed the views of the Stuart Range and the backside of the Enchantments. Started...

First time hiking this trail. Really enjoyed the views of the Stuart Range and the backside of the Enchantments.

Started out before noon on a nice day. The first mile to mile and half was more elevation gain than we had thought, or at least it seemed like a fairly good trudge with heavy packs.

The trail closely followed the roaring creek for the most part in and out of trees. The creek and boulder fields around the 2 mile mark provided a welcomed air-conditioning effect. Downed log at the 1-3/4 mile was easy to step over.

There are some ok campsites about 1 mile in for those who don't want to go further, but it seemed like the further you hiked in, the better the campsites were. We heard from people hiking out that there's not many campsites past Falls Creek at 5.5 miles and the trail was overgrown.

Found a handful of great campsites at Falls Creek with creek access and were excited to have our pick of the sites. Since it was still early in the day, we dropped our packs and explored further down the trail. There was a nice site just down the trail a few hundred feet at a sandy beach area, but it was a bit exposed, and with some showers expected in the forecast the next day, we decided to pass it up.

About a quarter mile past the Falls Creek campsites, we found a more private campsite (the only one around). Although this one was a little further from a water source, we opted for privacy and more light over convenience.

Day hiking the next day revealed even better campsites past Cascade Creek (2 miles past Falls Creek)/Crystal Creek right before Hardscrabble Creek (3.3 miles past Falls Creek). The trail was only overgrown and bushy off and on past our campsite and never lasted more than maybe 50 yards at a time.

We enjoyed lunch across Ingalls Creek at a sandy beach near Hardscrabble Creek and great views of Little Annapurna and Dragontail Peak.

All in all, a great place to go hiking and on an overnight backpacking trip. What made it even more enjoyable was that every campsite had a firepit and left over firewood. Quite a change from backpacking at an alpine lake. Can't wait to go back next year and bring along some friends.

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Ingalls Creek — Jul 13, 2011 — jhiker

Day hike

Features: Wildflowers blooming

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After last weeks hike in the Bean Creek area this trail was somewhat disappointing because there are few if any...

After last weeks hike in the Bean Creek area this trail was somewhat disappointing because there are few if any great views. I kept thinking the valley would open up so that the peaks would be clearly visible. It does not. We hike about 1 miles beyond Falls Creek Trail junction. There were many species of wildflowers, although the bloom wasn't all that impressive. I was pleased to find a few lady-slipper's in bloom and many mariposa lilies. We saw one rattlesnake that has a hole in the rock just off the trail. Ingalls Creek is flowing high and fast. This is an easy trail for those who do not want to gain elevation. The trail is overgrown in places, and the vegetation was wet. If you go after it has rained on on a rainy day expect to get soaked unless you wear rain gear. There are a few muddy spots and crossings of small creeks.

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Ingalls Creek — Jul 08, 2011 — Weluv2hike.

Day hike

Features: Wildflowers blooming

Issues: Overgrown | Bugs

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Wonderful hike. Lots of flowers blooming, and lots of people on trail today. Weather was great, warm and sunny. It...

Wonderful hike. Lots of flowers blooming, and lots of people on trail today. Weather was great, warm and sunny. It seems as though the river keeps the trail cool.=) Trail a bit over grown in places and lots of bugs. Although I would have not wanted to be anywhere else.

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