Always wanted to check out Dewey Lake along the PCT trail side. Was a bit worried on a holiday weekend parking at Naches Peak Loop Trail head area. Got lucky and found parking on the road next to busy parking area. Started at 1:30PM and got down to camp spot for the night by 3:45PM. Great camp spots can be found  along the shore following the PCT trail south. Abundant amount of berry at this time of year. Saw several PCT hikers and got to wake up to the sound of Elk in the morning... Amazing.

We went on our first backpacking trip in a few years, opting to visit Dewey Lake for an overnight. We decided to start our hike later in the day so that it would be less busy on trail, arriving at the trailhead around 3:30 in the afternoon. It was still packed when we arrived, but there were a handful of parking spots to choose from at that time of day at the Chinook Pass Trailhead. We strapped on our boots and packs, applied sunscreen, and headed up the trail.

We started climbing parallel to Highway 410 for a short stretch before reaching a small footbridge that crossed over the road. We turned left across the footbridge and started hiking east, away from the highway. This part of the trail overlapped with the Naches Loop trail, so we encountered lots of other hikers on such a beautiful day. We climbed gradually along the side of Naches Peak, with views across the valley and the highway heading towards Eastern Washington on the opposite side. Beautiful wildflowers in full bloom lined the trail. There were a few varieties of wildflowers, but lupines were the most prevalent - it seemed like there were lupines everywhere we looked.

We eventually reached a small tarn that was very busy with people relaxing in the sunshine along the shore. It was a hot day - even though the trail wasn’t steep, we were still working up a sweat. After passing the tarn, we hiked through the best patches of wildflowers along the whole trail. There were fields that looked like seas of lupines gently swaying in the wind. We stopped here to take a few photos and have a short rest, then continued towards the lake.

The trail climbed gradually the whole way from the trailhead until the junction where the trail split left to Dewey Lake and right to continue on Naches Loop. When we reached this junction, we continued on Naches Loop for 0.1 miles to reach the viewpoint of Mt. Rainier. We stopped to rest, take some photos, and walk through the meadow. It was a beautiful view of Mt. Rainier and definitely worth the short detour from the Dewey Lake trail, although the sun’s glare didn’t provide for the clearest view of the mountain.

We headed back down the trail, descending from the viewpoint all the way down to Dewey Lake. The trail gains a few hundred feet of elevation from the trailhead to the junction, but most of the elevation gain on this trail is from Dewey Lake back up to the junction. There were a few places we could see Dewey Lake before descending and entering the forest, at which point we were in shade the rest of the way down. It was an easy descent down to the lake, even with heavy packs on. The whole trail was very well maintained - it was often wide, had great footing, and there was never any mud or water on the trail.

When we arrived at Dewey Lake, we turned left at the first trail junction to walk along the trail on the north side of Dewey Lake. We passed a small beach and a few groups of tents before eventually finding a clearing to pitch our tent a little less than halfway down the lake. We knew it would be busy at the lake, so we weren’t surprised that we didn’t get a spot with good access to the water. After setting up our tent, we walked back over to the small beach to eat some food and relax by the water. It was a quiet and peaceful evening, and the lake was very calm. The bugs were bad, but applying bug spray kept us from getting terribly bitten. We sat by the water until it started to get dark, then headed back to our tent.

In the morning, we woke up about an hour after sunrise, packed up our stuff, and headed back towards the trailhead. We were eager to hike in the cool morning after hiking during the hottest time of the day prior. We hiked our way back up to the junction, then continued on the gradual descent back to the trailhead. The Naches Loop trail was already getting busy, and we returned to a full parking lot when we got back to our car. It took us a little less than two hours to hike to Dewey Lake on Saturday and around an hour and a half to hike back to the trailhead the next day. We really enjoyed this short overnight - Dewey Lake was a great trail for getting back into backpacking!

Did a quick overnight with a friend who is now getting into backpacking. We started later in the afternoon so the trail was not as busy as hiking back the next day. The trail was in good condition with wildflowers still looking good in most areas. 

Dewey Lake wasn't busy and we managed to get a good spot for both our tents. Bugs weren't too much of an issue. Hiking back the following day was also fairly quiet as we passed a few backpackers heading to the lake as we were leaving. The trail became VERY busy once we got back to the PCT/Naches Peak Loop junction. If you head down Naches Peak trail about 500-600 ft, there is a nice lookout! Sky was clear and Rainier was out! We took our pictures and headed back to the TH.

Overall a great quick trip and definitely recommend for a day hiker that is getting into backpacking!

Reminder that dogs are not allowed inside Mt Rainier National Park and please stay on trail to preserve and protect the meadows and the lake shore! NPS Site

Ever since moving to Washington and discovering the beauty of their forests and alpine lakes, Naches Peak Loop has been on my bucket list! I'm happy to say I can cross it off now. But I will be back time and time again to do this delightful, breathtaking hike.

To beat the crowds, we left from Seattle to arrive at Tipsoo Lake Parking Lot at 9ish am. Most of the lot was empty! I recommend bringing toilet paper with you, just in case. The weather was predicted to be mostly sunny with a high of 64. 

We started clockwise from Tipsoo Lake. The path will loop you around the lake and then take you uphill until leveling out. The trail itself is very well maintained and easy to handle. I saw a lot of off-trail paths on the way, as well as a section of meadow that was trodden on and crushed flowers. We saw a few people take a step off the trail onto the meadow just to get a better picture. Trust me, it is not worth it for the long-term damage inflicted on this delicate environment. I believe we have already caused a lot of harm to this world; let's do our best to preserve and protect what still exists.

I lack words to capture and describe the beauty I saw during this hike. We saw a river of Lupine, Aster, Paintbrush and Monkeyflower washing over the meadow. I highly, highly recommend downloading the Mount Rainier Wildflower bulletin to identify the plethora of flowers you will see along this hike! We met so many friendly people on this early morning hike :)

About 2 miles in, we took a detour down to Dewey Lake to extend the hike and have lunch! Before you go down to Dewey, there is a viewpoint on Naches Loop Trail overlooking these lakes. Gives you an idea of how far down you're going! I think it was a pretty moderate hike with a steady incline/decline. The bugs are pretty bad in some parts near the lake but when we stopped to sit and eat, we didn't have an issue. The view was so serene and peaceful. A nice pause from the bustle of Loop trail.

After an hour or so, we headed back up to finish the loop. Mount Rainier was shy today and hid behind the clouds, but that did not detract from this beautiful hike; it only added to mystery and grandiosity of the mountain.

Arrived 8/13 to Chinook Pass TH parking with a few spots open at 1pm. Tipsoo parking and sheep lake were completely packed.

Overnighted to Dewey Lake w/ toddler and doggo. Trail was insanely busy the entire time (no surprise) but by the time we reached Dewey there was almost zero folks. Weather wasn’t in our favor but this meant almost no bugs at the lakes. We enjoyed frog hunting and wading our feet in.

No other overnight folks nearby and we slept soundly till 8:30qm. Moment we hit trail we once again were immersed in endless trailgoers.

Great spot for a few nights especially during warmer weather.

Garmin tracked 7.5 miles w/ 1,400ft of gain

DID YOU LOSE A PRECIOUS DUCK STUFFY W/ A KNITTED SWEATER- email me at ionescu.merissa@gmail.com