Hiking Guide
WTA's hiking guide is the most comprehensive database of hikes in Washington, and comprises content written by local hiking experts and user submitted information. All data is vetted by WTA staff. This resource is made possible by the donations of WTA members.
We respectfully acknowledge the lands we are visiting are the homelands of Indigenous tribes of the Pacific Northwest, some of whom have reserved rights on these lands. Tribes continue to rely on and share in the management of these lands today. Please tread gently and treat these places with respect.
Results List
97 HikesCentral Cascades > Stevens Pass - East
18.0 miles, roundtrip
Gain: 420 feet
Highest Point: 6,121 feet
Rating:
Kodak Peak is a side trip deep in the Glacier Peak Wilderness for those on the Pacific Crest Trail. As it's name implies it has amazing views and perhaps more than a few blueberries in season.
Central Cascades > Stevens Pass - East
5.2 miles, roundtrip
Gain: 1,300 feet
Highest Point: 4,300 feet
Rating:
A trail that can help hikers create multiple loops in the Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest, the the Cady Creek trail is a steep ascent from the brushy and mucky Cady Creek valley bottom.
Central Cascades > Stevens Pass - East
14.0 miles, roundtrip
Gain: 3,015 feet
Highest Point: 5,551 feet
Rating:
Trail closed: Wildfire
When it comes to resplendent alpine meadows, the Henry M. Jackson Wilderness can't be beat. And when it comes to the finest flower romps within that wild area named for the longtime Washington senator and champion of conservation, Cady Ridge ranks supreme. A multitude of blossoms proliferate along this mile-high ridge. But it's the lupines that dominate, transforming Cady into a purple mountain majesty. And views! From the inspiring Poet Peaks, to the emerald-cloaked summits along the Cascade crest, to cloud-piercing, snow-catching, ice-harboring, horizon-dominating Glacier Peak!
Central Cascades > Stevens Pass - East
13.0 miles, roundtrip
Gain: 1,700 feet
Highest Point: 4,800 feet
Rating:
A popular summertime destination for many hikers and backpackers, Lake Valhalla also makes a rewarding advanced snowshoe route.
Central Cascades > Stevens Pass - East
12.0 miles, roundtrip
Gain: 1,550 feet
Highest Point: 3,350 feet
Rating:
Hike along a raucous waterway to a gorgeous alpine meadow with hiker and stock camps available. It's the perfect basecamp for multi-night adventures.
Central Cascades > Stevens Pass - East
12.6 miles, roundtrip
Gain: 2,100 feet
Highest Point: 4,800 feet
Rating:
The Chiwawa River Trail offers hikers the rugged scenery that's the signature of the Glacier Peak Wilderness but for less effort than other hikes nearby. Try this trail to enjoy solitude while basking in sublime mountain scenery.
Central Cascades > Stevens Pass - East
117.0 miles, one-way
Gain: 26,351 feet
Highest Point: 6,600 feet
Rating:
By far the most difficult stretch of PCT in Washington, Section K puts hikers through a grueling 127-mile trek over harsh terrain and treacherous conditions. Yet those intrepid enough to attempt it are rewarded with a true wilderness experience in and among some of the country's most pristine and beautiful surroundings.
Central Cascades > Stevens Pass - East
9.0 miles, roundtrip
Gain: 3,600 feet
Rating:
Sometimes, taking the back door is better. At 9 miles and 3600 feet of elevation gain, the back way to the Rock Mountain Lookout is less steep, more scenic, and two miles shorter than the more frequently used route from Rock Lake. Try this as a key swap or a thru-hike if you want to get both sides of this gorgeous hike.
Central Cascades > Stevens Pass - East
7.0 miles, roundtrip
Gain: 1,500 feet
Highest Point: 5,050 feet
Rating:
Lake Valhalla is a gem, tucked under Lichtenberg Mountain and Mount McCausland on the PCT North of Stevens Pass. The lake is a great day hike in summer or fall and accessible by snowshoe in the winter. Wildflowers abound in early summer, berries in late summer and fall colors make vivid surroundings in autumn.
Central Cascades > Stevens Pass - East
7.0 miles, roundtrip
Gain: 1,800 feet
Highest Point: 5,747 feet
Rating:
Mount McCausland delivers mountain views, lake views, and even solitude at the summit. The cost? The first three miles of the trail is easy, but the last half mile to the summit is steep and occasionally brushy. Taking a break on that climb is no hardship, though: the hillside is carpeted in berries and the views start early.
Central Cascades > Stevens Pass - East
24.6 miles, roundtrip
Gain: 5,000 feet
Highest Point: 6,200 feet
Rating:
A steep and rough-at-times trail leads hikers into some of the loneliest, yet most stunning, lake basins within the Alpine Lakes Wilderness.
Central Cascades > Stevens Pass - East
10.4 miles, roundtrip
Gain: 1,800 feet
Highest Point: 5,150 feet
Rating:
Josephine is a beautiful lake 5.2 miles south of Stevens Pass on the Pacific Crest Trail. The trail winds thru the Stevens Pass Ski area, climbing for two miles to top of the hill, gaining 1000 feet along the way.
Central Cascades > Stevens Pass - East
0.5 miles, roundtrip
Gain: 0 feet
Rating:
This short loop trail is in a campground closed for overnight use. Hazard trees make the area dangerous for visitors and hikers are requested to refrain from visiting.
Central Cascades > Stevens Pass - East
12.8 miles, one-way
Gain: 2,550 feet
Highest Point: 24,800 feet
Rating:
This infrequently-maintained trail within Alpine Lakes Wilderness branches off the Chiwaukum Creek trail 10 miles in. It's possible to connect to the Icicle Ridge trail from here, provided you're willing to undertake some brushbashing.
Central Cascades > Stevens Pass - East
10.0 miles, roundtrip
Gain: 700 feet
Highest Point: 4,682 feet
Rating:
This is a beautiful small lake tucked immediately under Grizzly Peak and the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT). Where Heather Lake is often shared with a number of hiking and camping groups, you are pretty much assured to have lunch by yourself at Glasses. Only a half a dozen trip reports have been filed in the last decade, this is a good predictor of solitude.
Central Cascades > Stevens Pass - East
5.0 miles, roundtrip
Gain: 400 feet
Highest Point: 3,200 feet
Rating:
This brushy but scenic river bottom trail accesses the Wildhorse Creek Trail within the Alpine Lakes Wilderness of the Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest.
Central Cascades > Stevens Pass - East
34.0 miles, roundtrip
Gain: 7,650 feet
Highest Point: 7,100 feet
Rating:
Take a long weekend and enjoy some of the best backcountry in the state on this long loop hike. Along the way, you'll see massive wildflower meadows, glaciers, alpine lakes, high mountain passes and supreme views of Glacier Peak.
Central Cascades > Stevens Pass - East
9.0 miles, one-way
Gain: 3,200 feet
Highest Point: 5,600 feet
Rating:
Stunning alpine meadows and peak views, Dishpan Gaps charming trail leads you to a gateway of more trails.
Central Cascades > Stevens Pass - East
4.2 miles, roundtrip
Gain: 2,500 feet
Highest Point: 6,366 feet
Rating:
If the steep climb up to Lake Minotaur hasn’t taken all the go out of your legs, adding a mile and another 1,000 feet of climbing will get you to the top of Labyrinth Mountain. From the summit you look down on Minotaur and Theseus Lakes directly below.
Central Cascades > Stevens Pass - East
3.5 miles, roundtrip
Gain: 1,905 feet
Highest Point: 5,580 feet
Rating:
Tucked in a cirque a few miles east of Stevens Pass are Minotaur Lake, its immediate neighbor Theseus and overlooking Labyrinth Mountain. This group of alpine destinations, named for symbols in the Greek mythos, make for a great day hike and an excellent workout.
Central Cascades > Stevens Pass - East
3.2 miles, roundtrip
Gain: 1,140 feet
Highest Point: 4,140 feet
Rating:
This short but steep little trail just east of the Stevens Pass ski area is an excellent little gem in winter or summer. Get a workout, visit a lake, and all in less than half a day, if you hike at a fast clip.
Central Cascades > Stevens Pass - East
16.0 miles, roundtrip
Gain: 3,500 feet
Highest Point: 5,600 feet
Rating:
Trail closed: Wildfire
This is a great weekend backpacking trip for wildflower lovers. Miles of wildflowers along Meander Meadow and Cady Ridge will delight the hiker who passes through during July and August. Fantastic views of the Cascades, Glacier Peak and plunging valleys add to the allure, and it's all packaged up in a 16-mile loop.
Central Cascades > Stevens Pass - East
6.0 miles, roundtrip
Gain: 3,000 feet
Highest Point: 6,015 feet
Rating:
Trail closed: Wildfire
Three thousand feet in three miles make the Little Wenatchee a substantial albeit relatively short hike for exercise provided. The trail was the primary supply route to the old Poe Mountain lookout, and like many lookout access trails wastes no time in getting to the top. But it is well built, switchbacking up the hill. The first two-thirds of the hike are in light tree cover, so the views come as a surprise when you get to them.
Central Cascades > Stevens Pass - East
5.0 miles, roundtrip
Gain: 1,800 feet
Highest Point: 6,015 feet
Rating:
Trail closed: Wildfire
One of about six former lookout sites in the Stevens Pass area, Poe Mountain boasts two different trails to the summit; the original steep supply route to the retired fire lookout via a trail rising from the Little Wenatchee Falls campground, and the more moderate trail via the Irving Pass Trail. Irving Pass is the recommended route, since you spend a significant amount of the hike on the ridge with awesome views both north and south.
Central Cascades > Stevens Pass - East
12.5 miles, roundtrip
Gain: 1,980 feet
Highest Point: 4,992 feet
Rating:
Trail closed: Wildfire
Follow the Little Wenatchee River all the way to its headwaters high on the Cascade crest. From mile-high, miles-long alpine meadows, the river meanders. And so will you upon reaching these heavenly flower gardens. The hike in is a long approach and is warm at times across brushy avalanche slopes, but it is worth every ounce of sweat expended and every annoying fly swatted.
Central Cascades > Stevens Pass - East
19.2 miles, roundtrip
Gain: 3,770 feet
Highest Point: 6,000 feet
Rating:
Glacier Peak Wilderness, northwest of Lake Wenatchee. You can barely see Glacier Peak from the westside of the Cascades. Not so from the Buck Creek Trail - where it looms over you like a white monolith. Add to that fields of late summer flowers and a pleasant afternoon breeze and you may be close to rapture.
Central Cascades > Stevens Pass - East
5.0 miles, roundtrip
Gain: 1,433 feet
Highest Point: 6,022 feet
Rating:
Hike a scenic ridgeline on a trail connecting Lake Julius and Lake Ethel. Views of the central Cascades abound on this rugged route outside of Leavenworth.
Central Cascades > Stevens Pass - East
11.0 miles, one-way
Gain: 2,700 feet
Highest Point: 5,000 feet
Rating:
Beautiful mixed forests surround you as saunter up Indian Creek towards the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT). Surrounded by peaks on all sides, this crucial connector to the PCT in the ultra-rugged Glacier Peak Wilderness requires keen navigation skills (and a strong sense of adventure) as years of overgrown brush make this trail difficult to follow.
Central Cascades > Stevens Pass - East
16.6 miles, roundtrip
Gain: 2,525 feet
Highest Point: 5,550 feet
Rating:
A stroll north on the Pacific Crest Trail to tranquil Lake Janus and neighboring Grizzly Peak offers panoramas of the Central Cascades’ finest peaks and undulating meadows blanketed with wildflowers as far as the eye can see. Traveled by sauntering day hikers, first-time backpackers and dedicated thru-hikers bound for Canada, this well-graded trail has a little something for everyone.
Central Cascades > Stevens Pass - East
0.9 miles, roundtrip
Gain: 314 feet
Highest Point: 2,429 feet
Rating:
The Big Tree Loop Trail — located in the closed Soda Springs Campground — has not had any maintenance for five years or more. Bridges are missing from creeks and devil's club blocks some sections of the trail. Yet the grove of four- foot-wide conifers stands tall, wildflowers bloom brightly in summer, and autumn leaves glow brilliantly in October.