Hidden Lake (Lake Wenatchee) — Saturday, Apr. 24, 2010

Central Cascades > Stevens Pass - East

With as easy as it is to access this trail I was surprised not to see more trail reports for it. Not only does Hidden Lake have two trail heads but one of them leaves from the Glacier View campground on the southwest corner of Lake Wenatchee. As you can guess my family, some friends and I were off on our first tent camping trip of the year this weekend. The weather was decent with the occasional sprinkle or gust of wind but sunny more often than not. I had done the campground side of this trail to Hidden Lake once several years earlier when I camped at Glacier View but this time I figured I would walk both parts of the trail and add some meager mileage. The kids were busy playing by the lake shore and the other two adults had no interest hiking that day so my friend and I made the quick trek up. The campground portion of the trail leaves from its south end where the road ends in a turnaround before entering the campground stretched along the lake. It crosses a creek on a footbridge and starts a gentle climb for 1/2 mile to reach Hidden Lake. There was one patch of mud that was easy to get around right after the bridge. The whole trail strolls through forest and offers peeks of Lake Wenatchee below. Hidden Lake itself is very nice. Sandy bottom, green water, and a few fallen trees that you can see in the lakes clear water. It looks like it would be a great place to take a dip on a hot summer day. The lake also offers a view of the mountain ridge above still crusted with snow. We stayed at the lake for awhile before making our way along the trail next to the lake and crossed another set of logs over a creek to reach the main part of the trail that goes to the main trail head. We came across a talkative chipmunk who made sounds at us a few time before scurrying up its tree. The main trail is a gentle stroll up and down for 3/4 mile before you come to a nice parking area and a newer outhouse. We did come across a few blowdowns on this section of trail which could be hard for small children or the less mobile to get over/ around but should offer no problems for most. From here we cut back to camp and figure we did about 2 miles total with the walking from the far end of the campground where we were staying. Not a strenuous hike by any means but the heart rate was elevated and the lake beautiful.