The hike breaks down into stages: forest portion alongside Clear Creek, then opening right into a reduce basin meadow, prior to hitting the steepest section approximately Ice Lake.
Recreation within the lake ranges from boating, swimming and kayaking, to drinking water skiing and there is great hiking, fowl and wildlife-watching inside the bordering forest around the lake and the complete location.
Shuksan or the Pickett Variety in the distance. Right after about 2 miles, you are going to emerge through the trees to end up on an enormous, grassy plateau with open up sights with the North Cascades.
Together with the trailhead car parking zone proper from the highway, you might waste no time finding onto the trail. Start out with a small dip in elevation to a brief boardwalk. This is actually the initially of a number of small boardwalks you'll traverse right into a friendly forest. At a quarter mile, the boardwalks close and also you Obtain your last glance within the highway.
Open to horses, mountain bikers, and motorized automobiles, trail users of all stripes can appreciate this vacation spot (however Every single consumer has his very own specified trail to get there.) But be sure to take pleasure in the journey likewise; end with the renowned basalt columns and snap a picture!
The 7-mile round excursion hits you with sights from the San Juan Mountains The full way up. It’s truly amazing, and here are a lot more main reasons why.
You can only have a swift peek of the Blue Lake to the South Fork Toutle path in close proximity to St. Helens, but it surely's a captivating place. An outdated washout with a transparent creek jogging by and also the stark silhouettes of dead trees with St. Helens looming over all make it a great place to take a look at.
You are going to also discover restrooms and some picnic tables listed here also. The trails main out with the Blue Lake Trailhead are well-marked and straightforward to comply with, so you won't have any hassle receiving exactly where you might want to go.
Discovering the North Cascades can be a hiker’s aspiration. Irrespective of whether you’re a beginner or a skilled hiker, there’s one thing for everybody During this astounding location.
The parking zone at Blue Lake Trailhead can accommodate around twenty automobiles, so strategy to reach early to safe your spot.
Blue Lake At 6254 feet, Blue Lake sits quietly just a little about two trail miles from Highway twenty. With towering granite peaks, forests, meadows, wildflowers, not to mention the beautiful mountain lake surrounded by granite that reaches to the sky, this shorter hike is easily a basic and may be on your have to-hike record.
2. Pack lightly but sensibly. You don’t really need to provide a great deal of gear along with you on your own hike to Blue Lake, but be sure you deliver the essentials.
The North Cascades are tucked really far north, along the Canadian border, so getting to the trailhead is often a certain amount of a hike. For instance, the trailhead is 3 plus a 50 % several hours northeast of Seattle or about Blue Lake four hours southeast of Vancouver, British Columbia.
I’ve hiked this path 2 times on weekdays in fall and have often had to vulture all-around for a bit to get a place. So in case you’re traveling to all through one of these periods, I’d extremely advise acquiring below to the early facet (as in, right before eight AM)!