Summer Wildflower Hikes

Yellow Aster Butte by Jennifer S.

Washington's mountains offer a colorful array of wildflowers, from the blooming trillium that signal the arrival of spring in the lowlands to patches of laughing monkeyflower clinging to subalpine streamsides in August.

That's right: August! It's not too late to see brilliant wildflower displays in the Cascades and Olympics this summer, but you will want to go soon, and you will probably also have to get pretty high for the best blooms. Below are our top four trails for wildflower lovers in August.

Yellow Aster Butte, North Cascades -- Mount Baker Highway

Round Trip: 7.5 miles * Elevation Gain: 2550 feet * High Point: 6241 feet

This hike delivers stunning views, including Mt. Baker and Mt. Shuksan, pretty tarns and tons of wildflowers. In fact, the wildflowers are probably peaking right now. Look for penstemon, paintbrush, monkeyflower, fireweed, lupine, beargrass, anemone, cow parsnip, valerian and bistort.

Adams Creek Meadows, South Cascades -- Mount Adams

Round Trip: 8 miles * Elevation Gain: 2300 feet * High Point: 6840 feet

A fantastic hike through forest, wildflower meadows, lava fields, and alpine tundra up Mount Adams. See beargrass, paintbrush, lupine, and heather.

Tiffany Mountain, North Cascades - Okanogan

Round Trip: 6 miles * Elevation Gain: 1740 feet * High Point: 8242 feet

With a trailhead at 6500 feet, not much sweat needs to be expended to reach Tiffany's rocky and grassy wide-open summit. Enjoy blue lupine, valerian, and stonecrop.

Hurricane Hill, Olympic National Park

Round Trip: 3 miles * Elevation Gain: 750 feet * High Point: 5757 feet

Looking for an easy stroll through wildflower meadows? Take this short, paved path to an emerald knoll with horizon-spanning views from snowy Olympus and Mount Baker to the azure waters of the Strait of Juan de Fuca. See glacier lilies, tiger lilies, sandwort, bistort, arnica, fanleaf cinquefoil, Indian paintbrush.

Know Your Flowers

How many times have you been on a trail and thought, “Wow, what is that flower?” Sure, most hikers can tell a trillium from a columbine, but have you marveled at the subtle beauty of yellow bells, laughed out loud at the goofy muppet heads of western pasqueflower, or noticed that paintbrush come in a full spectrum of colors? You don't have to be an expert to appreciate the beauty of wildflowers, but a little knowledge can go a long way towards enjoying the dozens of species of wildflowers that grace the landscapes we hike through.

Last summer, Washington Trails magazine published a full-color guide to 50 common mountain wildflower species in the Cascades and Olympics. You can view the guide as a PDF here.

Looking for a guidebook to Washington's best wildflower hikes? You are in luck. Check out Best Wildflower Hikes, Washington by Art Kruckeberg, Craig Romano and Karen Sykes, published by Mountaineers Books.