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Copyright © Craig Romano/The Mountaineers Books Surprise and Glacier Lakes
Wedged between craggy Thunder and Spark Plug mountains, these two lakes are set in a truly electrifying environment, flanked by towering evergreens and slopes of shiny granite ledges and talus. But even more stimulating than these aquatic gems is the forest that lines the trail leading to them. It's one of the finest tracts of old growth along the US 2 corridor.
Begin by walking a short distance up a powerline service road. In 0.2 mile turn left onto real trail, and real nice trail at that. On good tread, sturdy stairs, and solid planking, head up the narrow Surprise Creek valley through a magnificent forest of ancient cedars and giant hemlocks. Soon enter the Alpine Lakes Wilderness, its designation guaranteeing that those giant arboreal elders' lives won't be cut short. At about 1.3 miles the trail crosses cascading Surprise Creek on a big log. Note previous log crossings strewn about in the creek's bed. Then skirt beneath avalanche slopes and undulate between patches of brush and groves of majestic primeval forest as the trail continues upvalley. Tumbling Surprise Creek, always nearby, provides constant visual and audio delights. At about 3 miles begin climbing more steeply. At 4.5 miles, after winding around talus and ascending steep forested slopes, reach a trail junction just shy of Surprise Lake. The trail left climbs briskly toward Trap Pass to connect with the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT). Continue right, traversing a marshy meadow and a precarious creek crossing to reach Surprise Lake. A popular backpacking destination with its numerous designated campsites, the lake is well-loved by day hikers too. Treat it well. Find a quiet shoreline ledge or boulder to soak rays or feet. While away the afternoon here, or continue farther to bigger and prettier Glacier Lake by continuing south along the trail, climbing a rib between Surprise Lake on the right and a cascading creek on the left. About 0.5 mile beyond Surprise Lake, reach a junction with the PCT (elev. 4900 ft). Left goes to Trap Pass. Continue straight. Come to a big granite talus slope just after passing a tarn tucked below on the left. Locate an unmarked but obvious trail heading right. Take it, passing an old Snoqualmie National Forest sign and dropping steeply 50 feet or so to granite-bound Glacier Lake (elev. 4800 ft). No glaciers, lots of granite, this lake along with Surprise are also known as the Scenic Lakes. Can't argue with that moniker.
Driving Directions:
Drive US 2 east to the small town of Skykomish. Continue for another 10 miles, turning right (just after passing the Iron Goat Interpretive Site) into the old railroad community of Scenic. Cross the railroad tracks and turn right, following a narrow and bumpy dirt road 0.3 mile to the trailhead (elev. 2200 ft). Recent Trip Reports
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I first went up this trail almost 30 years ago. The Surprise Lake trail had surprises then and it s...
I first went up this trail almost 30 years ago. The Surprise Lake trail had surprises then and it still does now. The second surprise was the log crossing over Surprise Creek. This used to be the first surprise but there is a new one now. I could tell you what it is but then it would not be a surprise. Let's just say it is worse going down than up. This trail is what trails used to be like - rough, rooty, rocky, creek jumping; not like the new "smooth as a baby's bottom" trails. Walking along Surprise Creek is always nice and it was flowing well - not as much as the late spring when it roars but it was still very nice.
The route finding around Surprise Lake was relatively straight forward unlike spring conditions when it still has plenty of snow. When I got to Glacier Lake, I got surprise number 3. A group of friends was just returning to the main trail and were heading south towards Surprise Mt. The fourth surprise was the new snow above 5000'. My friends stopped at the junction of the old PCT and new PCT. My decision was which way to go - on the abandoned trail or new trail. I had never been up the new trail so that was an easy choice although that lead to surprise number 6. The PCT is intended to be a low angle trail to accommodate stock so there were no real issues as the snow got deeper and deeper. Surprise number 5: the snow was up to 1 to 1.5 feet deep as I neared the ridge line near Peiper Pass. At this time, traction devices are not needed although there were 3 or 4 short icy spots. I would have been a much happier camper with gaiters. At my turn around spot, there were nice partial views of Hinman and Daniel to the south and Glacier to the north. Surprise number 6: After looking at the map (which I should have done at the previous trail junction), I realized that I still had significant mileage and gain to get to Surprise Mt; there was a long descent south; then an ascent back north to Surprise Gap and then a boot path to the summit. Ooops!! Day hike
Features:
Ripe berries
Issues:
Mudholes | Bugs
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Huckleberries! Even Salmon berries. The Surprise Creek trail skirts and switchbacks up a ridgeline...
Huckleberries! Even Salmon berries. The Surprise Creek trail skirts and switchbacks up a ridgeline that has plenty of seeps to enourage berry growth. The trail is in good shape. There is a nice new log bridge with improved approaches and many thanks to the crew that did the good brushing job through the bracken.
This is not the easiest trail to find. An unmarked exit off Highway 2 just before it ascends Stevens Pass leads to a railroad yard. Usually there are yellow trucks and equipment there. Cross over 3 sets of tracks and follow a rocky bumpy road to the right for a couple hundred yards. There is an official trailhead here with picnic table and limited parking. Climb up the rocky road under the power lines to find a new sign pointing to Surprise Lake. The trail gently climbs 2 miles through lush forest on many puncheons and stairs. Cross the log bridge and climb a bit more briskly through boulder fields, bracken slopes, and forest. Then come many switchbacks along which are the berries. At a signed junction with the Trap Lake trail, turn right to Surprise Lake. On a promontory are some very nice sitting rocks for lunch. The trail continues, however,up another 400 feet to the junction with the PCT. Go right and find Glacier Lake which also has big rocks on the shore. The whole distance is 10 miles round trip with an overall gain of 2800 ft. The lake shores are pretty buggy and there are a few mudholes on the PCT but for the greater part, this trail is in good shape.
Spark Plug and Little Spark Plug Peaks, Surprise and Glacier Lakes
— Sep 07, 2011
— Karen Daubert
Day hike
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Spark Plug is 66 on the back court list at 6320 and Little Spark Plug at 6050 was irresistible on th...
Spark Plug is 66 on the back court list at 6320 and Little Spark Plug at 6050 was irresistible on this beautiful summer day.
I left the Surprise Lake/Glacier Lake trailhead around 8 and soon passed both lakes, hiking now on the Pacific Crest Trail. The old trail to Surprise Mountain is signed as “abandoned” which was disappointing as it was one of my favorites – easy to get to with a great view. But soon I was heading up, arriving at Pieper Pass around 10:30. From Pieper Pass, it took longer than I thought to get to the summit of Spark Plug, as I stayed on the ridge where I should have stayed a little west. But the summit and its unique register were worth it – indeed, it included a spark plug! It was still well before noon when I made the decision to make a loop trip instead of retracing my route. I headed down on soft snow to the beautiful Spark Plug Lake, around the east side of the lake, watching fish swim along its shores. I crossed the outlet and before I knew it, was heading up Little Spark Plug. It took maybe thirty minutes to reach the summit (no register and little view). The route to Little Spark Plug lake was wonderful – another enchanting lake. Then it started to be not so fun. The terrain is quite steep and I was aiming for as close to the Surprise Lake outlet as possible. I ran into cliffs/steep terrain on several occasions and found myself backtracking. Luckily, I ended up crossing the creek right where the trail does a switchback – I could not have planned it better. I was back to the car at 4, took a swim in the river, and was soon on my way home – not too much the worse for wear. Day hike
Features:
Wildflowers blooming
Issues:
Blowdowns
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Three intrepid Mountaineers hikers set out from Stevens Pass PCT TH after dropping a car at the Surp...
Three intrepid Mountaineers hikers set out from Stevens Pass PCT TH after dropping a car at the Surprise Creek TH. Interesting to climb past all of my favorite ski runs at Stevens Pass! From the top of Stevens the trail traverses down, around past tiny Lake Susan Jane, and up over a ridge from which the trail down to lovely Josephine Lake appears, shortly thereafter the views down to the lake itself...gorgeous! Long westward traverses through forest followed for the next 5 miles or so, rolling up and down, before a steep descent to Mig Lake where we had lunch. A bit buggy but we saw a couple of 6" trout in the lake! Taking off from Mig we started a long climb, passing Hope Lake and then doing a set of steep switchbacks, beginning to feel the warm afternoon sun. The switchbacks were followed by about 3 miles of gorgeous flowerfield traverses with Thunder Mountain and Surprise Mountain filling the southward view, before we rounded a bend and spied Trap Lake with Trap Pass high above to its west. An unmarked use trail to the lake forks off to the left just before the lake comes into view. We climbed fairly readily to Trap Pass, 5800', then went over the other side and descended STEEPLY about a mile before the 'shortcut' down to Surprise Lake cut off to the right. That short cut turned out to be longer than expected, as the valiant trail crews had not cleared the blowdown and much of the trail was obscured. Nonetheless we made it down to the lake, soaked our feet, and headed down the Surprise Creek trail back to the trailhead. I would not particularly recommend anyone take on Surprise Creek as a hike up to Surprise Lake on its own; very rocky, rooty and steep and the lake isn't all that dramatic. However the trip from STevens and particularly the views over Trap Lake and traverses along the flowerfields were lovely. Almost no snow left.
Surprise and Glacier Lakes, Surprise Lake
— Aug 21, 2011
— kvstark
Day hike
Features:
Wildflowers blooming | Ripe berries
Issues:
Bugs
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We found the trailhead without too much difficulty. There were maybe five or six cars there at arou...
We found the trailhead without too much difficulty. There were maybe five or six cars there at around 11:30 AM, and the trail was not crowded at all. Great to get away from the masses on a nice day like today.
There were a lot of bugs from the moment we set out. They were mostly flies--not too many mosquitoes--but the biting fly kind. I probably had at least two or three on my pants at any given point in time. It got better as we got to higher elevations, and as the day progressed and wasn't as hot. That was probably the most irritating part of the trip. As for the actual hike itself, there's almost no snow on the trail. There are two spots at the lake itself where a patch of snow remains that you have to walk over, but nothing major. The lake itself is all snow-free and not too frigid. We met some people who had been swimming in it on our way up. There are a lot of rocks and roots on the trail - it is not a beginner or easy trail to hike! Over half of our party fell down at one point, and several of us turned our ankles to some degree. We are all (relatively) experienced hikers. Lots of beautiful scenery though, and we saw some not-quite-ripe blueberries and maybe blackberries? along the trail. |
 Surprise Lake. Photo by Gabi Fulcher.
2010
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