We enjoyed a glorious late summer day visiting the lakes and meadows of Indian Heaven.

Pro Advice: Use Forest Road 6507 from the Wind River Highway to reach the trailhead as the washout on Forest Road 65 has not been repaired, and I have heard that it is in even worse condition than last year.

When we arrived at the trailhead, it was 2/3 full (8 vehicles) but we did not encounter many other hikers so we enjoyed the peace and solitude of the wilderness.

We hiked up through the forest to the Indian Heaven plateau just before Rock Lake, passing brief glimpses of Mount St. Helens and Mount Rainier through the trees along the way. We checked out Rock Lake, site of late season backpack camps in the 1980s before Indian Heaven became so popular. It provided a great base for exploratory hikes in all directions. Ah, memories. Now we just visit mid-week on day hikes.

The Thomas Lake Trail was in good shape, although the heavy wear from many hikers' boots is evident in eroded areas. Once on the plateau, it is easy to see what sections of trail going from Rock Lake to Blue Lake retain water early in the season by the bypass boot paths through the huckleberry and rosy spiraea plants. The trail could be made more sustainable in those sections by a re-route to higher ground.

Huckleberries themselves were non-existent: either a poor crop due to this year's drought and heat, already picked over by the mobs of visitors over Labor Day weekend, or consumed by wildlife. We did observe American Robins, Townsend's Solitaires and Northern Flickers feeding on the ground in the low huckleberry patches, so they likely were cleaning up the last berries.

I was surprised to observe that the lakes did not seem lower than normal for late summer given this year's drought. I guess Indian Heaven had enough snowpack to fill them full last spring. We observed juvenile Goldeneye ducks catching fish in Rock Lake so it must be deep enough never to dry up and not to freeze solid in the winter.

we arrived at the trailhead around 11am & there was parking still for all of us - a group of 8 headed into junction lake via Thomas Lake for 2 nights, 3 days. It was light drizzle/fog. the weather stayed this way all weekend - this likely kept any bugs well hidden. once we set up camp at junction lake (a Llama supported group were across the lake from us - fun) then we did an afternoon wander down to blue lake - I loved the part of the trail through the burnt out area - unfortunately blue lake was completely under cloud/fog.  the following morning we did a loop trail - passing many more lakes (bear, elk, deer & others I'd need to recheck the map to recall)  we stopped for our lunch break at deep lake - it was more protected from the breeze & the fog/clouds - we almost had some sun breaks. the walk back had less lakes, but way more meadows. there were ripe blueberries & huckleberries everywhere - walk & eat all day :) after another cool & damp night we packed out in the morning.  I had a great time & am now keen to come back & explore (when not so shrouded in cloud/fog or drizzle). you can find more picson IG: @janettepowell

Forest Road 65 has some flood damage between Falls Creek Horse Camp and the Thomas Lake Trailhead. The washout can be crossed with a high clearance vehicle, such as a Subaru or higher. In addition, Road 65 is very rough and filled with many potholes, including on sections of the paved segment.

Having driven both roads, I recommend using Forest Road 6507 to reach the trailhead. This approach is a few miles longer, but both gravel Road 6507 and paved two-lane Wind River Highway are in good condition and smooth drives.

We hiked the Thomas Lake Trail to Rock Lake, where we stopped for lunch and fully sampled the ripe Cascade bilberries. We hiked on past Lake Umtux but we did not go all the way to Blue Lake and Tombstone Lake.

We were fortunate, late enough in the season that bugs were almost non existent. Took FR 65 up from Carson and past Panther Creek. There was a washout in the road a couple miles south of the Thomas Lake TH, our SUV has high enough clearance but passenger cars would not make it. Next time we'll go another route (6507?). Trail was beautiful but the signage is not always clear. Personally, this should be called the Blue Lake trail, that happens to go past Thomas Lake. Other than that, conditions were perfect, not too hot, lots of fellow hikers and well behaved dogs, mostly leashed. Good thing, as this was just the second day hike into the wilderness with my pup Sam. Still learning but he handled the hike great! Stopped for lunch at Blue Lake, then on to Tombstone for a break, then back out to the TH. Highly recommend this hike for this time of year. I've gone up to Indian Heaven on Labor Day for the past few years and never disappointed, except when the East Crater fire broke out in 2017 and had to be evacuated! Oh, and berries are everywhere now!

First and foremost, if I could have given a rating more severe than "Bugs were terrible", I would have. The mosquitoes were absolutely BRUTAL. Immediately after we got out of the car at the Thomas Lake Trailhead, we were inundated. We sprayed down with 25% DEET and got on our way. Twenty five percent was not enough. We eventually busted out the 100% and they didn't seem to care either way. I stood directly in campfire smoke and they still followed me. We ended up hiding in our tent for about 6 hours. They cleared out a little bit just before dark. The next morning they were out with a vengeance by 6:30am. We packed up camp as fast as possible and practically ran back to the car. We had intentions of camping at Tombstone Lake, but were told that they got bad again past Blue Lake. We opted to stay at campsite 9 off of Blue Lake. Even after using an entire can of bug spray, 100% DEET, standing in the campfire smoke and hiding in our tent for the majority of our time, I still walked about with about 40 bites. They got me through my hiking pants! 

This is a beautiful area, and perhaps if timed right (before the mosquitoes are out, but before/after the snow) it would have been really nice. Thank god for wine and benadryl!