Information about this hike provided in partnership with
Mountaineers Books.
Copyright © Dan A. Nelson/The Mountaineers Books Twin Sisters Lakes
Parents, take note. This simple trail offers not one, but two scenic lakes that are set a short distance from the road. A relatively flat trail, great forest and meadow environments to explore, and a pair of cool-water lakes in which to swim make this one of the more popular William O. Douglas Wilderness day hikes, especially for parents with children. The first of the twins is only about 2 miles down a moderately climbing trail, so plenty of people make their way there. The second lake is 0.5 mile farther and is worth the extra effort, if only to escape the majority of the crowds.
The trail climbs modestly from the trailhead, rounding the snout of a low ridge above the broad basin of Twin Lakes in about 1.5 miles. The forest along this early section of trail holds a good population of squirrels--you might catch a glimpse of them leaping and gliding from tree to tree. Also listen for the head-banging hammering of woodpeckers as they search for insects in the many dead snags standing in this old forest. Visit in mid-September and you might earn a special treat. The resident elk go into their rut (mating season) in early autumn as the weather turns colder. As part of the rut ritual, the elk bulls challenge each other with eerie calls. This bugling resonates off the hills, creating a wonderful wild soundtrack for your hiking experience. After rounding the ridge snout, the trail descends gradually to the first of the twins at 2 miles. The path then follows along the shoreline for a few hundred yards before slanting to the left to cross a broad meadowland and, in 0.5 mile, reaching the second, smaller twin. Continue on around to the southeast side of the lake, branching off to the right into meadows. The main trail continues past the lake basin as described in Mosquito Valley.
Driving Directions:
From Chinook Pass drive east on State Route 410 (Chinook Pass Highway) for 19 miles to Bumping River Road (Forest Road 18). Turn right (south) and drive 12 miles to the end of the pavement, where the road becomes FR 1800 (at the entrance of Bumping Lake Campground). Proceed to a junction and stay straight on what now is Deep Creek Road (FR 395). Drive to the end of the road and walk to the Twin Sisters trailhead in Deep Creek Campground. Recent Trip Reports
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Overnight
Issues:
Blowdowns | Washouts | Water on trail | Snow on trail | Bugs | Road to trailhead inaccessible
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Adding on to Lonehiker's report, I set off with a group of four guys (we are in our late teens), two...
Adding on to Lonehiker's report, I set off with a group of four guys (we are in our late teens), two of which were seasoned hikers and the other two, including myself, were new to backpacking.
We originally planned to hike two miles to the lakes, but the road to the trail was closed adding an additional four miles to our hike. There were around three to four fallen trees blocking the way, and two major water obstacles that covered the road (one already being worked on). By the time we got up to the trailhead, we were quite tired but continued to press. We were told by a lone hiker that there was six feet of snow covering the trail; but we being teenagers, and the weather being 75 degrees in July, decided to press on. About a mile and a half in, the snow completely covered the trail and it was impossible to continue with the equipment we had. We still managed to get a hundred yards in until there was absolutely no trace of a trail. Extremely disappointing, and exhausted, we hiked back down to the rail head and set up camp there. The snow and glacial run off nearby made the campsite very cold at night, make sure to pack warm clothing even if NOAA says it'll be 50F at night. Don't expect the road to be cleared this season unless the road crew really works hard. I don't expect the snow to melt for at least another month. But we do hope to attempt this hike again, and reach the lakes by mid August.
Twin Sisters Lakes
— Jul 02, 2011
— lonehiker
Day hike
Issues:
Blowdowns | Washouts | Water on trail | Snow on trail | Bugs | Road to trailhead inaccessible
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As previously mentioned road 1808 is gated about 5 miles prior to trailhead at Deep Creek Campground...
As previously mentioned road 1808 is gated about 5 miles prior to trailhead at Deep Creek Campground and is closed to motorized vehicles. This is right by the Mount Aix and Pear Butte trailheads. Excavation work is being done about 2 miles up the road because of a wash out. So count on adding about 10 miles round trip of walking if you plan to enter the lakes via this route. At about 4800 feet and one and a half miles up, trail is completely obscure by about six feet of snow and difficult to follow. I was told, but did not verify, that the Twin Sisters Lakes are still completely frozen over.
Twin Sisters Lakes
— Aug 04, 2010
— Mikse
Multi-night backpack
Issues:
Bugs | Road to trailhead inaccessible
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My wife and I intended to spend 4 - 5 days with our three children hiking and fishing in the backcou...
My wife and I intended to spend 4 - 5 days with our three children hiking and fishing in the backcountry south of Bumping Lake, spending the first day at Twin Sisters Lakes and then moving on and making a loop. We didn't see any reports that FS road #1800 was washed out just past the junction with #1808. This unfortunate road closure added 5 miles to the hike just to get to the Twin Sisters trailhead at the end of #1800. Mosquitoes at the trailhead were pretty normal, no big deal. The hike up to the the fist lake was easy but a lot longer that we wanted for our 9yr old and 6 yr old. On the way up the mosquitoes got exponentially thicker and more desperate for our blood. Bug repellents (both Deet and Eucalyptus-based) were not working very effectively. We had hopes that we would hike up out of the bugs, but once at the first lake we realized that we were just going to get bit-up. We hiked on to the second lake to see if prospects were any better, but they turned out to be far worse - way more snow melt ponds loaded with mosquitoes. We hiked back to the first lake and set up camp in an open area with the hope of getting some help from the wind. No luck. The air was dead calm and the sky was overcast, so the bugs had their way with us. We started a fire and sat in the smoke to eat our dinner and then did some fly-fishing until dark. Mosquitoes just drilled right through our repellent soaked clothing. Oh well, sometimes you have to pay your dues. After nightfall, the bugs were gone and the kids enjoyed sitting by a small fire and staring up at the stars. That night we had elk come by the camp. They clomped about and called each other for about three hours, making it very difficult to get any sleep. The next morning we woke early and fished for a while. Soon the bugs were back at us, so we decided to strike camp up and turn the 5 day trip into just an overnighter. The round trip turned out to be 15 miles of easy trail and road.
The berries were barely in blossom stage and the wildflowers were only in bloom along the lower parts of the road and trail. The trail was in excellent condition and all logged-out. There was evidence of some horses up at the first lake, but not much evidence of anyone being at the second lake this season.
Twin Sisters Lakes
— Jul 31, 2010
— AdLarson
Overnight
Issues:
Bridge out | Bugs
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ROAD CLOSED INDEFINITELY
Inspired by a "best WA hikes for children" book circa 2002, my 5 year ol...
ROAD CLOSED INDEFINITELY
Inspired by a "best WA hikes for children" book circa 2002, my 5 year old, 7 years and myself headed up to hike to Twin Sisters Lake. We planned a 2 mile hike with 400 ft elevation and then spend the night. The good news is that we had superb weather, Twin Lake (the first one) campground was superb, with 5 of 6 or so spots available and the lake itself was lovely. However, the bad news is that to get there...we hiked nearly 2x to 3x the distance we planned. This extra length was due to the fact that the road is closed 4.5 to 5.5 miles prior to the #980 trailhead at the Deep Creek campground. When we encountered the closed road, based on my guidebook and odometer I thought the distance was closer to 3 miles. The road is flat, some shade, not a lot, my kids called it "boring"...which it was and we counted more than a dozen areas that were impassible by car due river/stream damage....this road is clearly being forgotten and/or will take years to rebuild if they every decide to start. #980 has two places to start, one at the horse camp, which confusingly has #1105 shown at the trailhead sign...it turns out 1/8 mile down the road #1105 shoots to the right and #980 continues straight up towards the Deep Creek campground. At the Deep Creek campground (which appears no longer maintained) there are 6 spots where you used to be able to pull in your car..#980 cuts across the road...but you have to hike 1/8 mile to the creek for water. There are no labeled signs for #980 at the Deep Creek Trailhead, just an abandoned trailhead sign with nothing posted....this was confusing to us, nonetheless if you pass that trailhead sign you will cross over a wood bridge over Deep Creek within 1/8 mile and so you know you are on #980. Its all up hill from there, not too steep, through the trees and some switchbacks. All and all, we loved the lake, great beach, nice temperature, it was a shame we only planned one night and the extra road distance was a mental and physical killer for the kids. Bugs were an issue, not a nightmare, but probably a 3 out of 5. On the way back we say a family fully loaded for overnight camping at the lake.....riding on mountain bikes...that is the way to best minimize the pain of the distance caused by the closed road. Bottomline: Assume this road is closed permanently.
Twin Sisters Lakes, Fifes Ridge
— Sep 18, 2009
— JG of theTrail Trudgers Three
Day hike
Issues:
Blowdowns | Mudholes | Washouts | Bugs | Road to trailhead inaccessible
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Friday was a gorgeous day to head out for a long-awaited overnight trip that was to include a hike t...
Friday was a gorgeous day to head out for a long-awaited overnight trip that was to include a hike to Twin Sisters Lakes, near Bumping River off of Highway 410. Our guidebook directed us to the Bumping River Campground and from there, we were to drive a gravel road approximately 9 more miles to the trailhead. When we reached the end of the paved road we were very disappointed to see a sign indicating that FS Road #1808 was closed 2 miles ahead. It had taken us about 3 hours to get to that point from Seattle and the day was getting warmer by the minute. (Moral of the story: Check in advance for road closures!) As we contemplated our next move, a truckload of hunters in camouflage drove past us and waved. We looked at each other and said, “maybe we don’t want to go up there anyway!” FYI, the other road, FS 1800, is open until October 30 while the creek bed is dry. (See www.fs.fed.us/r6/wenatchee/news/2009/09/04/index.shtml)
We pulled into the sparsely occupied campground to stretch our legs and come up with a “Plan B.” All was peaceful until suddenly a SCREAMING fighter jet flew low over the campground! We were not prepared for that shock and according to some nearby campers, that was not its first pass. (We saw/heard three more of these outrageously noisy “birds” that day.) We finally decided to backtrack a bit and hike the Fife’s Ridge Trail, between mileposts 82 and 83 on Highway 410. It is described as an “arduous 3 miles leveling off at the ridge,” which was as far as our old legs and lungs would allow us to go. The complete hike is dubbed as 8.4 miles roundtrip but with the heat and the steep grade, we just couldn’t make it the extra 2+ miles. This is a dry and dusty hike at this time in the season. The vegetation looks downright scruffy and “tired.” We could tell that this trail has not had much attention or traffic for a long time. We had never seen so many blow-downs in one area and could only imagine the dramatic chaos that must have taken place to create this landscape. Despite all the trees laying helter-skelter, we only had to climb over 2 of them on the trail. The view from the 3-mile point was nice, but not the spectacular one described in the guidebook if we had made it the last 1+ mile up. The flies and mosquitoes have gone, but very aggressive and annoying yellow jackets have taken their place. Not sure we’d return to his trail, although it would be prime for a WTA work party! |
 Photo by Poppyseed1.
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