Nason Ridge

Starting at Snowy Creek, you’ll climb quickly out of deep old-growth into"Hills Are Alive" scenery: think expansive, flower-studded meadows on steep mountain slopes and 360-degree views of peaks from Mount Daniel to Glacier Peak.

4 miles in, after 1300 feet of gain, you hit the first landmark, the old Rock Mountain lookout site, a great lunch spot or turnaround point for a day hike. You can see Rock Lake below you. Rock Lake has some pleasant campsites, or you can press on another 1.3 miles and camp at Crescent Lake. 

Between Rock and Crescent is where you’ll encounter the sketchiest sections of trail–some steep sidehill stretches that have severely eroded and don’t have much solid tread remaining. Try not to get too distracted by the views so that you can step carefully through here.

The Merritt Lake junction comes about 3.5 miles beyond Crescent Lake. Here you can take a right to descend to the Merritt Lake trailhead for the 12-mile version of the hike, or a left to stay on the Nason Ridge Trail.

Merritt Lake has a big camp with a privy, but the bugs can be brutal here in June. From Merritt, it’s a half-mile side trip up and over the other side of the ridge to Lost Lake. 

It’s another three miles from Merritt Lake to the Alpine Lookout, which was staffed up until recently.

There’s still a structure here and great views of Lake Wenatchee and Dirtyface Mountain. Another good lunch spot–just remember there’s no water. And then from there it’s 4.5 miles downhill on good trail to the Round Mountain trailhead.

Traveling further

The easternmost nine miles of the trail, from Lake Wenatchee to Alpine Lookout, are open to motorized travel and generally in good shape.

To experience the more rugged part of Nason Ridge, I recommend a thru-hike starting from the Snowy Creek trailhead at Stevens Pass and ending at either Merritt Lake or Round Mountain. Snowy Creek to Round Mountain is 17.5 miles, which you can shorten to 12 miles by exiting via the Merritt Lake trail instead.

Either way you’re looking at a good two-day backpack or an epic day hike. Note that water can be scarce throughout, and nonexistent east of Merritt Lake.