Red Top #1364.1
Aug 29, 2008
- Type of Outing
- Day hike
- Read More in our Hiking Guide
- Hike: Red Top Lookout
- Region: Snoqualmie Pass -- Salmon La Sac/Teanaway
- Agency: Okanogan - Wenatchee National Forest, Cle Elum Ranger District
- Trails: Red Top (#1364.1)
- Avg Rating: 3.12
Being rained out on our original plan to hike near Baker Lake, we once again headed East to the land of sunshine. We were not disappointed. It was a gorgeous sunny, windy day with interesting clouds east of Snoqualmie Pass. We easily found the Forest Service road up to Red Top lookout. It's a long 7+ miles, up, up, up, to the trailhead. The road is very rough in places, especially for the average sedan like mine, so it was slow going. It's actually worse at the bottom of the hill than at the top so don't give up. There is good parking at the top and a new-looking pit toilet as well.
The short hike up to the lookout, approximately 1/2 mile, is rather steep but the scenery is breathtaking. We had a nice chat with the volunteer lookout keeper, who showed us around and told us how to get over to the agate fields and where to complete the loop trail back to the parking lot. We climbed to a magnificent perch near the lookout to eat our lunch. We then trekked to the agate fields but failed to see the attraction there. The area indeed looks like an artillery range; one book described it as ""carnage,"" which fits. And don't expect to use the ""comfort station"" in that area as it has been completely trashed by vandals.
The best part for us was the great view of the lookout from that vantage point. The clouds behind the lookout and the amazing rock formations below it were fantastic. From there it's an easy hike back to the parking lot. We figured the whole loop was only about 2 to 2.5 miles. We got into Cle Elum around 3:00, realizing we would hit rush hour traffic in Seattle if we kept going, so decided to ""hang out"" in that town before heading back. We were pleased to find a number of fun shops to browse and had some wonderful pizza at a rather new-looking pizza and pasta restaurant (its name escapes me). It was still sunny and 72 degrees when we headed out of Cle Elum at about 5:45 but only 10 minutes into our westward drive it started raining and continued to pour as we went over the pass into the soggy side of the state. How fortunate we are in Washington to have the option of a wet or dry hike! It was a really great day and we highly recommend this short trail with big rewards.
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