Autumn in the PNW is an absolutely magical time of year. I honestly don’t know what season I like better, summer or early fall! The colors come to life on the trails and are bursting with endless tones of fiery reds, deep oranges, and vibrant yellows. This year I actually didn’t get to go out on the trails in fall as much as I would have liked. Work got very busy, holidays had my schedule full, and the change of seasons had me battling a long cold so hiking kind of slipped through the cracks unfortunately. I’ve actually been hiking a lot more this winter than I have in fall funny enough, but I intend to make up for fall this year! I only have 4 highlights to share for this post but will also do a little mini list of hikes that are great for fall colors in Washington and that I plan to do this year! Here were my 4 favorite fall hikes of 2018!
(*Disclaimer: I want my opinions and photos to inspire you but please still do thorough research on your own before heading out to the trails. Most of my fellow Washingtonians know this website but for anyone who doesn’t and those who are not from Washington and are visiting the area, I highly encourage you to look up all of these hikes on the Washington Trails Association website and always try to read several of the most recent trip reports you can find to get a feel of the most current conditions! Also remember to practice Leave No Trace principles! *)
1.) Sheep Lake (3.6 miles roundtrip, NW Forest Pass needed)
This hike was the perfect introduction to the magnificence of fall hiking in Washington. There were plenty of colors on this trail from the very beginning and a beautiful and very cool view of the Chinook Pass very early on. The trail is only 3.6 miles roundtrip and I think it is a great choice for families if you want to bring your children along as the gain is minimal and gentle. This hike is incredibly popular in the summertime but in the fall the traffic reduces, especially if you go on a morning that is off and on raining like we did! The lake itself is gorgeous with so many red and orange colors surrounding the green tinted lake. You can camp here and in the summertime I hear it is hard to find a quiet spot but in the fall we only saw one camping group and they looked like they were having a great time enjoying the solitude! You can also make this hike longer by doing the Sheep Lake to Sourdough Gap portion which will make the hike about 6 miles roundtrip versus the 3.6 miles and gives you a view of the lake from above. We were going to do that but I was still battling a horrible cold and the rain wasn’t helping so we skipped it this time around. You can also do Naches Peak Loop as the trailhead is right near Sheep Lake’s trailhead. Naches Peak loop is another popular trail and also a great hike for fall colors. It has a nice view of Mt. Rainier and Tipsoo Lake makes for great pictures too!
2.) Norway Pass (4.4 miles roundtrip, NW Forest Pass needed)
If you’ve been following me on social media and/or you are a loyal reader of my blog, then you are well aware of my love for the Gifford-Pinchot National Forest and the Mount St. Helens National Monument area in general. I feel it is so highly underrated, and although quite barren, there’s so much life that has already grown back and it makes for such a unique experience. Also, if you do the trails away from the visitor centers you’re guaranteed to find some solitude! Norway Pass is a must-do fall hike for gorgeous colors, peace & quiet, and most likely you’ll also be blessed with some great weather in the fall! We went in late October and it was so hot and sunny out (but always be prepared for bad weather) and the trail was bursting with a plethora of beautiful fall colors. We only saw two people on the trail on the way up and then never saw them again. On the way back we only saw three people going up! There are other trails to branch off to if you want to make it a longer hike but we were more than content with having this gorgeous viewpoint pictured below to ourselves. Bring plenty of water as the trail is extremely exposed (as to be expected in this area) and although the gain is only about 860 feet, the heat can make it feel a lot harder at times.
3.) Barclay Lake (4.4 miles roundtrip, NW Forest Pass needed)
This trail is crazy popular in the summer and for good reason. It’s a pretty little lake with an epic view of Baring Mountain and is a gentle and easy trail for all levels. Come in the morning during late fall if you want some peace and solitude here! We did this hike in mid-November and got to the trail at about 8:30 (a late start for us) and we were the only car there! On the way back we saw people but it was still a lot less than what you see in the summertime. The trail is well maintained and there is a nice little creek as well as peek-a-boo views of the mountains. When you first start off on the trail, the tree growth is pretty dense so depending on how early you go and what time of year it might be pretty dark at the beginning and kind of gives off an eerie vibe. I really liked that even though it was a short trail there was just enough variety to keep it interesting. This would be a really great one for families as well, although I’m sure most families would want to come in the summer so they can actually enjoy some time in the lake. If you’re adamant on hiking all seasons though, definitely add this one to your fall (and even winter) list! Make sure to stop at Espresso Chalet afterwards to warm up with a delicious cup of coffee and get a photo-op with Big Foot!
4.) Heather-Maple Pass Loop (7.2 miles roundtrip, NW Forest Pass needed)
This is one of the quintessential well-known and loved Washington trails for seeing fall colors and the infamous golden larches. Larch march madness is a wonderful time of year here and if you haven’t seen the larches turn from green, to almost lime green, to dripping in gold…you definitely need to get your butt on the trails this fall and see them! Larches normally start to turn gold at the very end of September through the second and sometimes 3rd week of October so it’s a very short time span and is always changing depending on the weather and snowfall. There are several great trails to see golden larches (I will mention some at the end of this post that I haven’t been to yet but are on my list!) but the downside is most of them will require a lengthy car drive if you live in the Seattle/Tacoma area. It is well worth waking up at the crack of dawn and the hours driving though! This trail in particular is supposed to be epic with the most stunning views along the ridgeline, bursting with vibrant colors, and giving you the warm cozy feeling of drinking endless amounts of pumpkin spice lattes (I kid, I kid). Seriously though, if you can only do one fall hike and want a trail that has almost everything a Washington hike can offer (epic views, beautiful foliage, a pretty lake, and more) then this is the trail for you. If you haven’t been hiking in awhile the 2000 feet gain might be a little tough but from what I saw on trip reports and social media, all kinds of fitness levels have done this trail! Just be prepared!
So anyways, all that being said, as I mentioned earlier you just never know with the weather in Washington at this time of year. We booked a cabin out in Darrington for the weekend for our anniversary to cut our drive time and planned to hike Maple Pass Loop as well as Blue Lake which is right by this trail and another great one for fall colors and larches. I was STILL battling an off and on cold and it was very bad on this weekend. The cabin was paid for with no refunds available so there was no backing out. We had to skip a day designated for hiking and it turns out that was the day we should have done the hike. Since we only had one day now for one hike we decided on Maple Pass Loop because of the longer trail duration and how gorgeous it looked. Only to wake up to be greeted by rain and fog. We thought well, let’s just go for it because we’ve started hikes in fog and later it cleared out to be a glorious day. Well, that definitely did not happen on this day. Not even close! The view was socked in the entire way, the weather was miserable on top of my sickness, and as we got closer to the top there was snow! Which was beautiful but such a bummer when you know that the stunning views this trail is known for is completely shrouded by fog and that the snow had blanketed most of the fall colors. We did manage to get the tiniest glimpse of Lake Ann on the way down and we did see plenty of golden larches so at least it was all for something. It was crazy seeing trip reports from the day before of clear skies, great views, and absolutely no snow. A great reminder of how fast things change in the mountains.
This is definitely on my list of hikes I must re-do ASAP and if you do go on this hike in the fall I hope you have much better luck than we did! This is a great summer one too though and you probably have much less chance of bad weather! We did the trail counter clockwise as this seems to be a popular choice and is less steep in the beginning versus clockwise (I still felt it started off with a pretty steady climb though). I don’t think you can go wrong with either way you begin. Read some trip reports to see what you think! Also, if you have time make the detour to Lake Ann on the way down for a close-up view of what you saw from above!
So there you have it! This is a very short list of highlights compared to my summer 2018 recap but these were the ones I felt were worth mentioning! Here are some hikes below that I’ve researched and are great choices for fall colors as well and some are also great for seeing golden larches! I plan to go on a lot of these this year!
Blue Lake (North Cascades National Park one, great for larches too)
Green Mountain (Mountain Loop Highway one)
Skyline Loop Trail
Golden Gate
Naches Peak Loop
Lake Ingalls (great for larches too)
Carne Mountain (great for larches too)
The Enchantments (very popular for larches)
Ptarmigan Ridge
Twisp Pass
Skyline Divide
Easy Pass (great for larches too)
Juniper Ridge
Cutthroat Lake (great for larches too)
Esmeralda Basin
Lake Ann (Snoqualmie Region/Teanaway; Great for larches too)
Larch Lake (self-explanatory!)
Eagles Lake (great for larches too)
Tatie Peak and Grasshopper Pass (great for larches too)
Sullivan Lake (great for larches too)
Perry Creek
Hannegan Pass
Thomas, Blue, and Tombstone Lakes
Lake Valhalla & Mt. McCausland (I’ve done this in summer but not fall!)
Summit Lake
There’s definitely more but I think this is a nice hefty list to get you started! 😉 Happy hiking everyone and stay safe!
Until next time,
Kelsie