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
784 HikesCheney Tertiary Wetlands
Eastern Washington > Spokane Area/Coeur d'Alene
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Length
- 5.0 miles of trails
-
Elevation Gain
- 200 feet
-
Highest Point
- 2,300 feet
Cheney Tertiary Wetlands serves as both the third and final enhancement of the Cheney Wastewater Treatment and Reclamation Facility, and also as a looped trail system just outside the city of Cheney.
Methow Community Trail
North Cascades > Methow/Sawtooth
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Length
- 18.0 miles, one-way
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Elevation Gain
- 1,215 feet
-
Highest Point
- 2,188 feet
The Methow Community Trail runs along the Methow River valley between the towns of Mazama and Winthrop. It is a multi-use trail that provides countless connections to other trails like the Sun Mountain trail system and beyond.
Brooks Memorial State Park
Southwest Washington > Columbia River Gorge - WA
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Length
- 5.0 miles of trails
-
Elevation Gain
- 200 feet
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Highest Point
- 2,856 feet
This state park has trails that wind through a forest of Ponderosa pine and Oregon white oak in the Simcoe Mountains near the Columbia River Gorge. Some trails take you up to meadows with wildflowers in the spring and views of Mount Hood in Oregon on a clear day.
Multnomah Falls
Southwest Washington > Columbia River Gorge - OR
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Length
- 1.2 miles, roundtrip
-
Elevation Gain
- 100 feet
-
Highest Point
- 611 feet
Multnomah Falls is one of the most beautiful (and popular) in the Columbia River Gorge. And that's saying something, since the Oregon side of the Gorge flows with more than 70 cascades of varying heights. Of course, all that flowing water has made it famous, and its proximity to Portland and Vancouver mean Multnomah is one of the most crowded of these waterfalls as well.
Rainbow Falls Mist Trail
Central Cascades > Entiat Mountains/Lake Chelan
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Length
- 0.25 miles, roundtrip
-
Elevation Gain
- 30 feet
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Highest Point
- 1,200 feet
Cascading 312 feet from Rainbow Creek high above the Stehekin valley floor, Rainbow Falls is perhaps the most popular natural destination for day visitors to the Stehekin Valley. And now, thanks to efforts from the National Park Service trail crew, a short trail exists here, offering a modest amount of elevation gain for a new vantage point of the waterfall.
Klickitat Rail Trail - Swale Canyon
Southwest Washington > Columbia River Gorge - WA
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Length
- 13.0 miles, one-way
-
Elevation Gain
- 450 feet
-
Highest Point
- 1,550 feet
The Klickitat Rail Trail is a 31-mile rails-to-trails conversion managed by Columbia Hills State Park. This linear park goes from Lyle to Warwick (on the Lyle-Centerville Highway) with several access points along the way. Swale Canyon lies on the eastern end of the trail and offers a quiet canyon, a burbly creek, wildflowers and solitude.
Artist Ridge - Huntoon Point
North Cascades > Mount Baker Area
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Length
- 1.2 miles, roundtrip
-
Elevation Gain
- 200 feet
-
Highest Point
- 5,150 feet
The road to Artist Point is closed for the winter season
This spectacular, short trail gets lots of love during its short hiking season. Accessible for less than three months each year, hordes of hikers and tourists take to it as the snow finally begins to melt.
Wolf Creek
Olympic Peninsula > Northern Coast
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Length
- 16.2 miles, roundtrip
-
Elevation Gain
- 3,800 feet
-
Highest Point
- 5,100 feet
The Wolf Creek trail departs Hurricane Ridge and plunges eight miles downhill to Whiskey Bend in the Elwha River Valley. It's a lovely route that gets little use along its entire length, though many people wander a couple miles down its length before heading back up.
Wild Goose
North Cascades > Mount Baker Area
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Length
- 1.4 miles, roundtrip
-
Elevation Gain
- 1,100 feet
-
Highest Point
- 5,100 feet
The road to Artist Point is closed for the winter season
Hike from the Artist Point parking area to the Heather Meadows Visitor Center and back. With 1,100 feet of elevation gain, you'll have a great thigh workout. Combine Wild Goose with many of the other short trails in the area to make a full day of exploration, or use the Wild Goose trail to access Swift Creek or Lake Ann.
Scorpion Mountain via Johnson Ridge
Central Cascades > Stevens Pass - West
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Length
- 8.6 miles, roundtrip
-
Elevation Gain
- 2,500 feet
-
Highest Point
- 5,540 feet
Wildfire: trail closed
Scorpion Mountain offers a 360-degree view of the Central Cascades, and the huckleberries and blueberries make this a much underrated fall hike.
Spray Park Loop
Mount Rainier Area > NW - Carbon River/Mowich
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Length
- 16.0 miles, roundtrip
-
Elevation Gain
- 5,100 feet
-
Highest Point
- 6,375 feet
Mowich Lake Road is closed for the season
Considered one of the best loop hikes in Mount Rainier National Park, the trail through the alpine meadows of Spray and Seattle Parks blazes with a bounty of seasonal wildflowers. Throw in an ample serving of glassy tarns, a couple of wispy waterfalls, an optional side trip to Carbon Glacier and a forested stroll up Ipsut Creek, and you have a photographer’s dreamland.
Queets Campground Loop
Olympic Peninsula > Pacific Coast
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Length
- 2.8 miles, roundtrip
-
Elevation Gain
- 50 feet
-
Highest Point
- 300 feet
The Queets Campground Loop is a quintessential rainforest experience. At just under three miles, it provides visitors with a generous variety of nature. Giant spruce and hemlock rise above great galleries of fern and oxalis. The wind whispers the memories of abandoned homesteads in the grasses of shrinking meadows. Owls hoot and frogs croak the song of an ancient melody. One stands here often and wonders.
Robinson Creek - South
North Cascades > Pasayten
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Length
- 19.0 miles, roundtrip
-
Elevation Gain
- 3,660 feet
-
Highest Point
- 6,220 feet
Trail closed: The Robinson Creek trail is closed from the junction with Trail 474 and the junction with the Boundary Trail due to wildfire
The sight and roaring sound of Robinson Creek will accompany you on your forested hike up the valley, following in the footsteps of an early trapper, Billy Robinson. The low starting elevation makes this a popular late spring/early summer day-hike or overnight.
Picture Lake
North Cascades > Mount Baker Area
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Length
- 0.6 miles, roundtrip
-
Elevation Gain
- 45 feet
-
Highest Point
- 4,157 feet
Road closed: The road to Artist Point is closed for the winter
Follow a short, ADA-accessible path around Picture Lake, home to one of the most photographed vistas in America. Featuring a backdrop of craggy Mount Shuksan and a foreground of wilflowers ringing a sparkling lake in summer, Picture Lake is pretty as, well, a picture.
Moraine Park - Mystic Lake
Mount Rainier Area > NW - Carbon River/Mowich
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Length
- 25.4 miles, roundtrip
-
Elevation Gain
- 4,400 feet
-
Highest Point
- 6,100 feet
Mowich Lake Road is closed for the season
Mystic Lake is a charming emerald tarn nestled in a subalpine basin along the Wonderland Trail. A scenic saddle separates it from Moraine Park, an expansive mountain meadow threaded with gurgling brooks under the dome of Mount Rainier. Getting there requires first hiking or biking the 5 miles of closed Carbon River Road and then hiking to the Carbon Glacier. This route is longer than starting at Sunrise, but backpackers will appreciate the numerous streams and forest shade.
Knapsack Pass
Mount Rainier Area > NW - Carbon River/Mowich
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Length
- 2.9 miles, roundtrip
-
Elevation Gain
- 1,300 feet
-
Highest Point
- 6,200 feet
Mowich Lake Road is closed for the season
Knapsack Pass follows a no-longer-maintained hiking trail. It now requires GPS or map and compass skills to reach the pass, located near Mother Mountain.
Seven Pass Loop (Pasayten)
North Cascades > Pasayten
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Length
- 26.6 miles, roundtrip
-
Elevation Gain
- 4,100 feet
-
Highest Point
- 7,446 feet
Holman Creek trail is closed due to wildfire
This breathtaking loop offers an undulating ridge walk on the Pacific Crest Trail, a jaunt through the West Fork Pasayten River Valley — one of the priority areas in WTA's Lost Trails Found campaign — and views from the highest fire lookout in the state.
Fairfax Ghost Town
Mount Rainier Area > NW - Carbon River/Mowich
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Length
- 2.35 miles, roundtrip
-
Elevation Gain
- 104 feet
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Highest Point
- 1,446 feet
Mowich Lake Road is closed for the season
Once a booming coal town, Fairfax Ghost Town is an adventure of exploration and discovery. Expect thick vegetation and undefined trails once you arrive at the town site, so pack a good sense of direction, plenty of time and a thirst for exploration is highly recommended.
Eagle Lake Fisherman's Trail
Central Cascades > Stevens Pass - West
-
Length
- 5.0 miles, roundtrip
-
Elevation Gain
- 712 feet
-
Highest Point
- 3,888 feet
Wildfire: trail closed
Eagle Lake is a shallow and infrequently visited alpine lake in the shadows of Merchant Peak and Townsend Mountain in the Stevens Pass region. Walk this trail to experience a variety of mountain terrain and wildlife encompassed by few other hikes.
Devil's Ridge
North Cascades
-
Length
- 18.8 miles, one-way
-
Elevation Gain
- 3,100 feet
-
Highest Point
- 7,000 feet
Wildfire: Trail closed
Connect between the PCT and Ross Lake as you take in the incredible sights of the Pasayten Wilderness. Pass over ridges and stop to explore and admire the popular Devil's Dome.
Wonderland Trail - Mowich to Longmire
Mount Rainier Area > NW - Carbon River/Mowich
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Length
- 34.0 miles, one-way
-
Elevation Gain
- 10,521 feet
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Highest Point
- 6,000 feet
Mowich Lake Road is closed for the season
A section of the Wonderland Trail. It is a strenuous hike with ample elevation gain and loss through lowland forests, valleys, into high alpine and sub-alpine areas. You move through forests with moss and ferns, wildflower-filled rolling meadows, and along hillsides covered in beargrass and thick with huckleberry bushes.
Old Ellensburg
Central Cascades > Blewett Pass
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Length
- 3.6 miles, roundtrip
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Elevation Gain
- 500 feet
-
Highest Point
- 5,700 feet
Beginning at Forest Road 9712 and ending at the Forest Boundary, the Old Ellensburg Trail comprises one third of the three trails used to make a popular loop around Mount Lillian.
Sunrise Lake
North Cascades > Methow/Sawtooth
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Length
- 13.8 miles, roundtrip
-
Elevation Gain
- 3,600 feet
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Highest Point
- 7,200 feet
The Sunrise Lake trail is a steep one-mile section of trail that is part of the Sawtooth Backcountry Trail system.
Rock Mountain via Snowy Creek
Central Cascades > Stevens Pass - East
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Length
- 9.0 miles, roundtrip
-
Elevation Gain
- 3,600 feet
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.
Northwest Timber Trail
Issaquah Alps > Tiger Mountain
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Length
- 4.4 miles, roundtrip
-
Elevation Gain
- 150 feet
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Highest Point
- 1,500 feet
The Northwest Timber Trail can be an easy first hike for young hikers, or it can be a pleasant stroll for experienced hikers when they have limited time. For many, this trail is a gateway to other routes that lead to more distant goals, such as the Silent Swamp Loop or the Preston Railroad Grade, or to forest roads that lead to the summit of East Tiger.
Tatie Peak and Grasshopper Pass
North Cascades > Pasayten
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Length
- 9.4 miles, roundtrip
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Elevation Gain
- 1,200 feet
-
Highest Point
- 7,386 feet
Hike on the Pacific Crest Trail in a section where its name describes its location. From the trail high on the ridge, the views abound. In the three passes are flowers in the summer and golden larch in the fall. A side trip up Tatie Peak provides 360 degree views of the North Cascades.
Marmot Lake
Snoqualmie Region > Salmon La Sac/Teanaway
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Length
- 16.0 miles, roundtrip
-
Highest Point
- 4,500 feet
Scenic Marmot Lake is reachable from both Highway 2 or the Salmon La Sac area, but either way will be a challenge -- it's 14 miles via Deception Pass, or more than 10 miles from the Tucquala Meadows Trailhead.
Thomas, Blue and Tombstone Lakes
South Cascades > Mount Adams Area
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Length
- 7.0 miles, roundtrip
-
Elevation Gain
- 1,000 feet
-
Highest Point
- 4,780 feet
This heavily-used trail passes numerous lakes and meadows and is an excellent foray into the Indian Heaven Wilderness. Hikers will find amble opportunities for a lakeside lunch spot.
Lakeview Trail
Puget Sound and Islands > Seattle-Tacoma Area
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Length
- 2.0 miles, roundtrip
-
Elevation Gain
- 95 feet
-
Highest Point
- 410 feet
Follow a gentle, stroller-friendly slope for about a mile along the eastern and northern shores of scenic Lake Ballinger. You can extend your walk by continuing west along Lakeview Drive to the nearby Interurban Trail, or head east to explore the gravel forested path through Terrace Creek Park
Lake Tye
Puget Sound and Islands > Seattle-Tacoma Area
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Length
- 2.0 miles, roundtrip
-
Elevation Gain
- 9 feet
-
Highest Point
- 45 feet
Enjoy an easy walk (or a jog) around a small lake in a very green, open setting. If you have occasion to be in the Monroe area anyway, come by for a pre-lunch stroll. Or, Lake Tye can be a pleasant add-on if you stop in Monroe for a meal after a longer hike in the Stevens Pass area. Either way, relax and take in the vista of open fields and forested hills.