On our way back from Mazama, we were hoping to do one more larch hike but the parking for Blue Lake and Heather Maple Pass were unreal (even for a Monday). Cars were parked on both sides of highway 20 for a half mile by Blue Lake and 1.5 miles by Heather Maple Pass/Rainy Pass trailheads. So we continued on and stopped at Thunder Knob. We've driven past it numerous times and were so glad we finally made the stop. Found parking on the north side of highway 20. 

The trail was pleasantly busy. It is in excellent condition and a lovely stroll through green lush woods. There are numerous benches along the way to take a break if needed. The views at the top of Diablo Lake are beautiful.

WTA has it as 3.6 miles round trip but our watches clocked in at 4 miles with just over 700ft elevation gain. We took about 1.5 hours round trip. Look forward to taking the kids on this one on the drive over next time.

Hiked Thunder Knob to break up a drive across the pass. Arrived around 11 and the parking lots were full and many cars on roadside but we managed to find a spot. The hardest part was finding the start of the trail as many social trails meander from the Kiosk towards the lake. Finally saw a hand written message on the kiosk map saying trail starts by campsite #9. The trail is well maintained,  beautiful and very busy. Arriving at the top we had to wait turns for a rock to sit upon to gaze at the lake as so many people were setting up cameras to record themselves. Still once we found a bit of rock away from people to sightsee the views were lovely.

Stopped off to do this hike on our way back to Seattle. Definitely worth it for the views! We ended up hiking during the middle of the day which was quite warm! Plenty of people around but not too crowded.

We were worried about the weather after a heavy downpour on the west side of the Cascades on our way to the trail, but after turning east on Hwy 20, the weather turned for the better and remained that way! Being a beautiful day, the parking lot was pretty full by the time we arrived at 10 am on a Sunday, but we were lucky enough to score the last parking spot. Since it is a fairly easy trail, expect it to the popular on weekends and plan accordingly! There is an overflow parking area across the highway, and there were about 10 other cars parked along the sides of the highway. 

The trail is well-marked and easy to traverse. We passed many groups both directions. Make sure to take the bridge one at a time because it definitely is a removeable bridge! We made it up to the viewpoint in less than an hour, and the reward was more than worth the trek. Be sure to keep walking past the benches up top to get additional views of Diablo Lake. All in all, beautiful day for a great hike in the North Cascades!