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
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