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Indian Heaven Bird Mountain Loop

Featured In: Day Hiking: South Cascades, by Dan A. Nelson and Alan L. Bauer.
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Indian Heaven Wilderness is a wonderland of sparkling lakes, jagged peaks, open forests, and, most notably, expansive meadows filled with flowers and an array of wildlife. A pair of loops around Bird Mountain-the highest peak in the wilderness-allow hikers to experience the best of each of those offerings. The short loop stays close to the flank of Bird Mountain, while the longer loop wanders farther south into bigger meadowlands before turning back to skirt around the mountain.

This loop is best done clockwise, so begin on the Indian Heaven Trail (No. 33) and start a long, steep climb to the east flank of Bird Mountain. The first 1.5 miles gain nearly 1200 feet in elevation as the trail ruthlessly ascends the Cultus Creek valley. About a mile into the hike, the trail breaks out onto a small ridge. Look east from this rocky point, and Mount Adams dominates the horizon. Below the viewpoint, the slope drops steeply away and rolls into a long blanket of green between the base of Bird Mountain and the flank of Adams. Face north on clear days, and Mount Rainier can be seen.

From here the trail turns sharply south as it draws near the cliff faces of Bird Mountain. Pine forests enclose the trail, with occasional meadow breaks and views of the towering cliffs, until the trail passes the crystal clear waters of Cultus Lake at 2.5 miles.

A side trail leaves to the left just a few hundred feet beyond the lake. This path leads to Lemei Rock and beyond. Stay right on the main trail, and in another 0.25 mile you'll reach a second trail junction. Go right again, and you'll pass pretty Clear Lake before reaching the Pacific Crest Trail in just over 0.5 mile from that last trail fork.

Turn north onto the PCT and follow it as it angles east toward the rocky upper slopes of Bird Mountain. Just beyond Wood Lake Trail junction, leave the PCT by bearing right onto Trail No. 108, which leads back to Cultus Creek Campground in another 1.5 miles.

Before heading for the trailhead, though, stop at the ridge crest just after leaving the PCT and enjoy the views. Or, for markedly better views, climb south on a boot track along the ridge until you see the whole of the South Cascades spread out in all their splendor. Mount St. Helens, Mount Rainier, the Goat Rocks peaks, and Mount Adams can be seen on clear days from this vantage point, less than a quarter mile off the trail. Don't bother risking the scramble to the summit of Bird, as the views are no better from that higher, more dangerous perch.

From the ridge, the final stretch on Cultus Creek Trail No. 108 is a steep descent through trees, ending at the Cultus Creek Campground entrance.

Driving Directions:

From Trout Lake, head west on State Route 141 for about 8 miles to Peterson Prairie Campground and a junction with Forest Road 24. Turn right onto FR 24 and drive 8 miles to the Cultus Creek Campground on the left. The starting trailhead is found near the back of the campground loop.

Recent Trip Reports

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There are 13 trip reports for this hike. See all trip reports for this hike.

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Indian Heaven Bird Mountain Loop — Oct 06, 2012 — Rob

Day hike

Features: Fall foliage

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Four of us enjoyed a nice day hike around Bird Mtn. Fall is definitely here-the weather was consider...

Four of us enjoyed a nice day hike around Bird Mtn. Fall is definitely here-the weather was considerably cooler than it was one week ago. The trail is dusty and some rain/snow will be nice to help put out the fires. After the hike we rewarded ourselves with a nice dinner at the 6th St Bistro in Hood River.

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Indian heaven - Junction Lake, Indian Heaven #33 — Aug 24, 2009 — Lunapeople

Overnight

Features: Ripe berries

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We hiked in to Junction Lake, on the east side of the Indian Heaven Wilderness near Mt. Adams, with ...

We hiked in to Junction Lake, on the east side of the Indian Heaven Wilderness near Mt. Adams, with our two boys -ages 2.5 and 6.5. The younger one is carried part of the way so that made for some big packs. It's 700 feet up and 2.5 easy miles to the lake.

we set up at camp at Junction Lake - meadowy and sunny, the lake has muddy shorelines but the camp was very nice. The next day we day hiked the 4.2 mile loop past Lemei Lake (partly marshy, partly rocky shoreline with a nice looking camp up on a wooded shelf), then to Indian Heaven #33 and past Clear Lake (clear, wooded, with some decent looking camps), then to the PCT and past Deer (nice beach, wooded, a few ok camps), and Bear (GREAT beach, nice camps) and back to Junction. Then out the next day.

lotsof berries, no bugs (we heard that they were terrible just two weeks ago), easy hiking.

We added a few days in the region to pick huckleberries, car camp, and visit Mt. St. helens - our "Gifford Pinchot smapler"

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Indian Heaven #33,(Bird Mt. Loop) — Sep 08, 2007 — JG of the Trail Trudgers Three

Day hike

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We set out on this glorious morning to hike the shorter (6.7 miles) of two ""Bird Mountain Loops,"" ...

We set out on this glorious morning to hike the shorter (6.7 miles) of two ""Bird Mountain Loops,"" according to a loop trails book I have. Fortunately the book mentioned the Indian Heaven #33 trail because nowhere did we see any sign mentioning ""Bird Mountain."" Anyway, we found the trail head in the Cultus Creek Campground and began the arduous 1.5 mile climb to where the trail finally levels out a bit. We got a fabulous view of Mt. Adams and Mt. Rainier from an opening about 1 mile up. Most of the rest of the loop is in the forest with views and access to several lakes. We stopped for lunch at the very pretty and peaceful Cultus Lake. Other folks were fishing and picnic-ing there as well.

We didn't see many flowers on this late-summer hike but we did see an amazing variety of mushrooms, from tiny to huge! Also the huckleberries were ripe and abundant -- yum! Our wildlife sightings were limited to a few chipmunks, birds and one curious pika. A few horses (with riders) also passed us along the way.

The trail is in good shape and well signed, with various side trails to other lakes and destinations. Also, the loop includes a section of the Pacific Crest Trail. We were grateful for those signs since hiking a loop trail for the first time can be a bit disorienting. The final 1.5 miles back down to the campground is very steep and it led us to a different spot in the campground than where we began.

The 9-mile gravel road to the campground is in pretty good shape (as far as gravel roads go) but very dusty at this time of year. We didn't much appreciate the hot-dogging truck driver going way too fast and stirring up even more dust than necessary. All in all, this was a most enjoyable hike!

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Placid Lake #29,Pacific Crest (South Cascades) #2000,Indian Heaven #33,East Crater #48,Lemei Lake #179,Lemei #34 — Sep 03, 2007 — bev

Day hike

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Our group of 9 planned our 3 day Indian Heaven Wilderness backpack over Labor Weekend. Happily we ha...

Our group of 9 planned our 3 day Indian Heaven Wilderness backpack over Labor Weekend. Happily we had perfect hiking weather, no rain, bugs were few, berries were ripe, trails were not crowded and we found a great group tent site ... talk about heaven.

We entered the Wilderness from Swift Reservoir area, and strongly suggest a good road map as side roads off FSR 30 are not clearly marked, if at all. FR 420 to Placid Lake TH is gravel, suggest park before the final 1/4 mile to TH, as ruts are very deep & nasty, even in dry weather.

We hiked in from Placid Lake TH #29, heading south on PCT #2000 at base of Bird Mountain, then #33 to check out Clear Lake, backtracked 1/4 mile to PCT, finding a great group site at Deer Lake.

(GT 365 and 365 S have printed the name of this lake in the wrong spot. Rather than the tiny lake on the north side of the PCT 2000 jnct. with #33 jnct; Deer Lake is the large un-named lake s/w of this jnct. and has a posted marker deep in the woods)

Day 2 we headed south on PCT to Junction Lake , and with an eye on climbing up East Crater. We followed the Crater trail signs on #48 to a short side boot path, which surprisingly quickly disappears. We scrambled up to the rim from the east side through the vegetation, there are a few rough paths here & there, and we found a great viewpoint for distant mountains. We looked down from an area of volcanic rock to the tree lined crater below, then descended via a much easier route to the west to pick up PCT back to Junction Lake for lunch.

We ambled to the beautiful wide upper meadows of trail # 179 past Lemei Lake, which hosted the best berries we tasted on our trip.

At mid-afternoon, the group scattered. Some checked out 2 gorgeous lakes, Cultus and Deep and both great for swimming & fishing; some for a nap back at camp, some to fish & others to explore Lemei Rock on trail #34.

Along the way we noticed the large variety of mushrooms growing, elk and bear scat, we sampled endless berries, patted a few horses and dogs; saw fish jumping at Bear and Deep Lakes and made friends with a huge fat bug hitching a ride on a backpack. Suggest a good trail map is invaluable in planning to backpack here.

Day 3 we packed up camp and hiked out to the TH, happy we had left beverages & cookies in our cars. We stopped off for great views of Mt St Helens at a Curley Creek Road viewpoint with picnic tables; perfect spot for a snack before the 4 hour drive home. We were tired but happy after this great 3 day experience; and look forward to returning to explore further.

Rough Stats… we clocked up about 19 miles with 3400 ft gain

Map .. GT Indian Heaven 365 S

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Indian Heaven #33,Lake Wapiki — Oct 21, 2006 — Mike in Tac

Day hike

Issues: Water on trail

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After meeting up with my friend Ari on Friday night at the Cultus Creek CG - halfway between Tacoma ...

After meeting up with my friend Ari on Friday night at the Cultus Creek CG - halfway between Tacoma and his home in Bend - we went for this wonderful hike on Saturday.

We were up really late on Friday and slept in on Saturday, so we didn't even start hiking until noon. Nonetheless, we had plenty of time for this 1-way trip (about 8 miles) through Indian Heaven.

The Indian Heaven trail was pretty much a direct uphill march - no switchbacks or anything - with a few views to Mt. Adams, Mt. Rainier, and the Goat Rocks along the way. I was too stuffed up to enjoy the smells of the woods. After a couple of miles things leveled out a bit and we found ourselves in a mix of wooded and meadowy areas. Cultus Lake was very pretty, and we ate a long lunch near a pond in the sun.

Just after Cultus Lake, we turned left on to the trail to Lake Wapiki. It was really nice - meadows and berry fields galore. Not really ""wide open"" spaces - there were lots of trees around - but plenty of room to take in views of the aforementioned peaks as well as Mt. St. Helens. All the while we were making our way uphill and we topped out on a ridge high on Lemei Rock - looking down to Lake Wapiki hundreds of feet below. At this point Mt. Hood came in to view (as well as the others), and we could see past the Columbia River into the eastern part of the state. It was windy as heck all day long - especially at the top - but it was as clear a day as I've ever seen. Absolutely beautiful.

We went down to the lake and tried our luck fishing for a while. Nothin' doing. That rainbow-colored powerbait hasn't done much for me this year.

As the sun got low, we got back on the trail and walked 2-3 miles out to my car at the Little Goose CG.

Despite the late start, we were still able to wander around for over 6 hours on the trail.

Saw lots of other hikers out today, and only a couple of hunters (near the road). Despite the sunny skies, it remained really cold all day and there was ice on the trail in lots of spots. Saw lots of animal poop too, but the only big game we saw were a couple of cow elk near the road as we drove back to our campsite.

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