Bench Lake Loop — Wednesday, Aug. 2, 2023

I lead one of two WTA work crews that camped at Bench Lake. We worked for five days clearing fallen trees from the Bench Lake Loop trail, which drops down from the campground to Hellroaring Creek, crosses the creek, and follows the creek for a mile before re-crossing the creek and returning uphill to the campground. 

I drove from Kent to Randle and took NF-23 before turning onto the Mt. Adams Recreation Highway. NF-23 is a scenic drive, but there are lots of turns and a few areas with sunken pavement. In addition, there is a 12-mile stretch of gravel road, with wash boarding in the steeper sections. Take it slowly and it is passable with any car. About a mile before reaching Trout Lake, we turned onto the Mt. Adams Recreation Highway which is paved. We then followed NF-82 to get to the lake. Most of NF-82 is graded gravel, but the last two miles past Mirror Lake become rutted with some large protruding rocks. I would suggest a high-clearance vehicle for this section. Make sure that the area is open, as the Yakima Nation only opens the area for limited days each year.

At the lake is a pay station. The fee is now $20 per night. The road loops completely around the lake, and there are a number of beautiful campsites. Although there are water spigots, the water was not running when we were there. We filtered water from the lake since the outlet stream was less than a trickle. One in our group hiked down to Hellroaring Creek to get his water.

There are at least three areas where multiple tents can be pitched. And there are many spots for single tents. We had a group of 24, and easily there were another 24 spots for camping. Pro tip: there are some nice camp spots near the boat launch. There are picnic tables at most sites, but the snow load over many years has pushed most of them into the ground, making them less than desirable.

There are at least three A-frame toilets on each side of the lake. They were clean and had plenty of toilet paper. There are no bear bins, although there are trash cans that are not bear-proof. 

There were mosquitoes and black flies during the hottest part of the day, but nothing terrible. A few in our group wore head nets, but I found bug spray to be effective. 

Our group cleared 2.5 miles of the loop trail of trees. There is a .5-mile section that was not cleared on the far side of Hellroaring Creek. My team cleared over 150 trees from the trail! The trail goes through a burn zone, so be prepared with sunscreen during hot weather. There are no bridges or logs for crossing the creek, so be prepared to wade. When we were there, the water would go up to the knee in the deeper sections at the creek crossing. In the Spring, the creek would not be crossable. 

It was the end of the wildflower season, but there were still some areas with pink and purple flowers. We also saw a few hummingbirds and camp robbers. At night, a few deer or elk wandered around camp.

After our work parties, several from the group went swimming in the lake. The top foot was warm and refreshing. There are fish in the lake and crayfish hiding under logs. The best access to the water was from the boat launch.

This would be a great spot to bring a family, with hiking, swimming, and fishing available. There are also great views of Mt. Adams and little Mt. Adams.