Our route on 7/25/25 was: Divide Camp Trail to the Pacific Crest Trail, north to the junction with High Camp Trail (which is also the junction with Killen Creek Trail.) We then ascended to High Camp, ate lunch there, then trekked up to Glacier Lake before returning to the aforementioned junction and this time taking the Killen Creek Trail to exit.
This is a horseshoe shaped route basically so to make this work I dropped off my companion at the Divide Camp trailhead with our gear, drove the 2.4 miles to Killen Creek trailhead, parked and then jogged the 2.4 miles back to Divide Camp. A car shuttle would of course achieve this too but with only 1 car and my love of running, this approach worked out great!

Divide Camp Trail has 31 fallen trees across it, most in the first mile. The official campsite (look for the sign) is in good shape though there’s no water flowing nearby. A quiet trail with the tread in fairly good shape overall. Great flowers and meadows as you approach the PCT.

The Pacific Crest Trail is in good condition and thru-hikers from all over the world are on their journeys! Fording Adams Creek wasn’t bad since there are some handy fallen logs to use.

The trail up to High Camp gets rough and scrambly. You’ll sweat but it’s worth it to reach such a gorgeous spot! There aren’t that many campsites up there in the meadows area but I’m sure you can find some in the volcanic rubble (follow the trail that leads in) or in the trees into the left (look for a spur trail.) Please avoid harming the fragile plants by camping and walking on the meadows!!!

We climbed up to Glacier Lake- extremely stunning views! More of a route finding exercise than a hike as you must cross snowfields and climb over boulder / rubble piles. There are some scattered cairns to aid you. There’s not a well-defined path, in short.

The Killen Creek Trail’s meadows are bursting with wildflowers now. The trail is in excellent shape with only 4 blowdowns on the trail. Probably the best and most well maintained trail to access the Pacific Crest Trail and High Camp now.

Road 23 is fine where it is paved. Eventually it’s gravel but okay for most cars if you go slowly and carefully. Road 2329 has some rougher patches but again as long as you are careful and not in a low clearance car you’re probably going to make it… I was happy to be in a truck though!

No bathrooms at Killen Creek or Divide Camp. If you’re going above High Camp - i.e., above 7,000 feet- a climbing permit is required May 1-Sept. 30, $20 for 3 days and all the funds directly benefit and support the Mount Adams ranger district. It’s the right thing to do!

Buy it online before you go since there’s no cell phone service in the area (for me with Verizon anyway). See   https://www.recreation.gov/activitypass/4280e9ae-d010-11ea-8e82-82c0c22bed90

A beautiful and accessible trail with a million dollar vista!

Road: After Takhlakh lake the road turns to gravel. But my mini van can do it. There was one patch of snow that poised an issue just .5 mile shy of the TH. Some people parked and then walked to the TH

TH: Small gravel lot on the right hand side. There were 3 other cars parked there. No bathroom. Signage is present denoting the TH.

Trail: 90% of the trail was still in spring snow. We were fine with only foots. No additional traction required. It was firm and mostly shallow. There is a well defined boot path showing the trail. The vast majority of the trail is in the sub alpine forest and has an easy steady incline. 

You'll know when you reach the meadow area because the view of Adams and the bugs become very present. Adams is right in your face and epic. The bugs were also the worst here. Continue about .9 and you will get high enough to see Rainier and St. Helens. 

A beautiful hike!

This was a great hike to get to know Mount Adams much closer than I've ever been before.

Beautiful woods on the way up give way to wide meadows with the mountain so big it fills your field of vision. The trail first runs close to lava flows on the way up, then on the PCT it actually crosses them. This was an interesting and unique feature to check out.

Though hazy from distant fires, we were able to see Mt. Rainier and just barely make out Mt. St. Helens from the PCT.

In between seasons; wildflowers starting to fade and grasses yellowing, but foliage still green and not quite turning to fall yet.

We almost had the whole place to ourselves! Only saw 3 other parties all day.

A gorgeous hike for a holiday weekend! The trail is in great shape, with only minor blowdowns and a couple inconsequential snow patches. The tread is good and the grade is nice and smooth.

The road has some medium ruts and potholes, but looked passable by most vehicles.

Great avalanche lilies on the lower parts of the trail. Buttercups and Shooting Stars are getting started in the meadows, with just the first painbrush peeking out. Looks like the lupine and paintbrush here will be spectacular in a couple weeks.

This trail had better views than I expected - several great ones of Adams through the meadows, and plenty more to be had wandering along the PCT.

One of our annual summer hikes, we use the Divide Camp Trail to access subalpine wildflowers on the slopes of Mount Adams.

Forest Road 23 from Trout Lake has been brushed on both shoulders about as far as the PCT crossing (good!) but the paved section has some serious slumping issues that require alert driving while the 6 miles or so of gravel road to the junction with FR 2329 are the worst condition we have experienced in a long time (bad!). FR 2329 is paved to Takhlakh Lake Campground, then gravel beyond and in somewhat better condition than FR 23 except for the climb up the grade just beyond TakhTakh Meadow, which is rough. It is a relief to reach the trailhead parking area.

The parking area was nearly full of cars when we arrived, surprising for a Monday, especially since we were greeted by mosquitoes and black flies when we opened the car doors. We quickly lathered up with sunscreen and insect repellant and set out up the trail.

Almost immediately we encountered the first of about 6-8 trees across the trail that must have come down since the trail was logged out by the Forest Service crew earlier this summer. We could see evidence of fresh cut logs so we know the trail crew had come this way.

Besides the logs across the trail, the trail tread really needs some repairs or re-routes where it climbs steeply up the fall line and has been down cut into a waist (or higher) trench.

In 2.2 miles, we reached the Divide Camp Meadow and its fabulous view of Mount Adams. The wildflowers were mostly burnt out by the hot temperatures this summer, but we did find Explorer's Gentians coming into bloom.

We continued on another 0.9 mile to the junction with the PCT, where we immediately encountered several thru hikers. We turned south on the PCT and climbed a ridge to a shady spot under some mountain hemlock trees for a lunch break.

After lunch, we continued south of the PCT to where the rubble of glacial outwash floods down the nascent Lewis River provided Mount Adams views and some wildflowers still in bloom along stream channels. The rubble fields invited exploration but we kept an eye on cloud build up over the mountain which hid views of the upper third.

All too soon, we needed to turn back the way we came since I needed to make a Pika Watch stop on the drive home. In the afternoon warmth, the mosquitoes and black flies seemed even more annoying than during our hike up the trail in the morning.