Hiking Guide
WTA's hiking guide is the most comprehensive database of hikes in Washington, and comprises content written by local hiking experts and user submitted information. All data is vetted by WTA staff. This resource is made possible by the donations of WTA members.
We respectfully acknowledge the lands we are visiting are the homelands of Indigenous tribes of the Pacific Northwest, some of whom have reserved rights on these lands. Tribes continue to rely on and share in the management of these lands today. Please tread gently and treat these places with respect.
Results List
4225 HikesAurora Divide
Olympic Peninsula > Northern Coast
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Length
- 14.5 miles, roundtrip
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Elevation Gain
- 4,800 feet
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Highest Point
- 4,750 feet
The Aurora Divide Trail branches off the Barnes Creek Trail and steeply climbs to Aurora Ridge. Aurora Ridge offers sweeping views of Lake Crescent, Mount Baker, and more.
Appleton Pass
Olympic Peninsula > Northern Coast
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Length
- 31.5 miles, roundtrip
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Elevation Gain
- 10,300 feet
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Highest Point
- 5,150 feet
This long route from Madison Falls on the Elwha River offers some rewarding diversions along the way, but much of the payoff is in the last 1.5 miles with sweeping views as one ascends the meadows and traverses the switchbacks to Appleton Pass.
Ape Caves
South Cascades > Mount St. Helens
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Length
- 2.8 miles, roundtrip
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Elevation Gain
- 350 feet
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Highest Point
- 2,450 feet
The full experience at Ape Cave includes the easy exploration of a spacious lava tube, followed by more difficult travel through a smaller, longer, and more rugged lava tube to an exit. Then, enjoy an easy return hike winding through shady forest and crusty lava formations.
Ape Canyon
South Cascades > Mount St. Helens
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Length
- 11.0 miles, roundtrip
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Elevation Gain
- 1,400 feet
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Highest Point
- 4,200 feet
Climb through dense old-growth forest to a barren cinder plateau that bursts with wildflowers and unobstructed views.
Anti-Aircraft Peak Loop
Issaquah Alps > Cougar Mountain
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Length
- 4.75 miles, roundtrip
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Elevation Gain
- 450 feet
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Highest Point
- 1,380 feet
Hike a loop around Anti-Aircraft Peak in the Cougar Mountain Regional Wildland Park. Hike past sites associated with coal and clay mining, and a former 1950s-era anti-aircraft missile installation. Enjoy good forest trails, some seasonal wildflowers, and a million-dollar view.
Angry Mountain
South Cascades > Goat Rocks
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Length
- 16.8 miles, roundtrip
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Elevation Gain
- 3,409 feet
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Highest Point
- 6,049 feet
Looking for adventure and solitude? Angry Mountain is the destination for you, though trail conditions may make put you in the mood the mountain is named for. It's a steep, challenging climb from Forest Road 21, but the payoff comes miles later, when you finally gain the ridge crest separating two glaciated valleys.
Youth-on-Age Interpretive Trail
North Cascades > Mountain Loop Highway
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Length
- 0.25 miles, roundtrip
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Elevation Gain
- 0 feet
This trail is closed until further notice.
A paved interpretive trail on the Mountain Loop Highway near Verlot. Perfect for exploring children and curious adults, an extra add-on after a longer hike or a leg stretch during a driving tour of the area.
Yellow Aster Butte
North Cascades > Mount Baker Area
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Length
- 7.5 miles, roundtrip
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Elevation Gain
- 2,550 feet
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Highest Point
- 6,150 feet
Visitors to this trail must pack out all human waste and not bury it.
Find supreme wildflower gardens and a high-country plateau speckled with shimmering tarns-but that's not all. Spectacular alpine vistas abound too-of Baker, Shuksan, and all those rugged and craggy peaks straddling the 49th parallel. Yellow Aster Butte may be a misnomer (those yellow-petaled delights are actually daisies), but you definitely don't want to miss hiking here.
Wonderland Trail
Mount Rainier Area
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Length
- 93.0 miles, roundtrip
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Elevation Gain
- 22,000 feet
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Highest Point
- 6,750 feet
The Wonderland Trail is a 93-mile hiking trail that encircles Washington's most famous volcano. Each year, hikers vie for permits to embark on a backpacking trip on it, with only a handful scoring the permits to undertake this strenuous hike.
Wonderland Trail - Mowich Lake to Sunrise via Spray Park
Mount Rainier Area > NW - Carbon River/Mowich
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Length
- 20.5 miles, one-way
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Elevation Gain
- 8,000 feet
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Highest Point
- 6,750 feet
The Fairfax Bridge (3 miles south of Carbonado) is closed to all vehicle and pedestrian traffic until further notice due to safety concerns. The Wonderland Trail is inaccessible from Mowich Lake due to the bridge closure.
This 20-mile section of the longer 93-mile Wonderland Trail covers the northern section of the loop from Mowich to Sunrise, utilizing the Spray Park alternate.
Wolf Creek
North Cascades > Methow/Sawtooth
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Length
- 21.0 miles, roundtrip
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Elevation Gain
- 4,270 feet
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Highest Point
- 5,738 feet
At the end of the Wolf Creek Trail lies a magnificently remote place: Gardner Meadows, a subalpine valley of old growth firs and myriad other plant and animal life. Once the snow melts, it is a bonanza of wildflowers and a haven for Columbian ground squirrels, birds, deer, and other animals.
Wind Mountain
Southwest Washington > Columbia River Gorge - WA
An old trail on Wind Mountain winds through land owned by various agencies. Storm damage and lack of maintenance has made this trail increasingly difficult, and the various land agencies encourage hikers to visit other Columbia Gorge hikes as an alternative to Wind Mountain.
Winchester Mountain
North Cascades > Mount Baker Area
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Length
- 3.4 miles, roundtrip
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Elevation Gain
- 1,300 feet
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Highest Point
- 6,521 feet
The trail up to Winchester Mountain is less than two miles long and only 1300 feet of elevation gain, with access to a lookout at 6500 feet with outstanding 360 degree views. What’s the catch? The road.
Williams Creek
North Cascades > Methow/Sawtooth
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Length
- 14.0 miles, roundtrip
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Elevation Gain
- 3,600 feet
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Highest Point
- 6,500 feet
To see beautiful Williams Lake, set in a meadow basin with pockets of larch trees, a hiker must earn it. The shallow gradient trail takes 7 miles to gain 3600 feet and is mostly on a fire-scorched, sun-baked south facing slope where the sparse shade offers a welcome respite from the heat.
Whittier Ridge-Lakes Loop
South Cascades > Mount St. Helens
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Length
- 14.3 miles, roundtrip
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Elevation Gain
- 3,800 feet
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Highest Point
- 5,840 feet
“Most Difficult”. If you can accept and safely navigate what that means, the Whittier Ridge Trail offers you an airy and ruggedly scenic connection between the Boundary Trail and the Lakes Trail, for an 8.5-mile loop, part of a 14.3-mile “lollipop” day hike.
White River to Sunrise
Mount Rainier Area > NE - Sunrise/White River
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Length
- 5.8 miles, roundtrip
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Elevation Gain
- 2,100 feet
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Highest Point
- 6,400 feet
White River Road has closed for the winter season.
A short but steep climb on the Wonderland Trail from a campground in Mount Rainier National Park to the Sunrise Visitor Center area.
Whistle Punk Trail
Southwest Washington > Columbia River Gorge - WA
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Length
- 1.5 miles, roundtrip
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Elevation Gain
- 174 feet
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Highest Point
- 1,270 feet
In logging's heyday, whistle punks were men tasked with operating the signal that let other loggers know a log had been hooked up and was ready to be moved. Using interpretive signage, this trail illustrates what was like to be on a logging show, from the crew, to the cook, to camp.
Whipple Creek Park
Southwest Washington > Vancouver Area
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Length
- 3.1 miles, roundtrip
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Elevation Gain
- 110 feet
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Highest Point
- 200 feet
A deep-forest experience without the drive. Whipple Creek Park is a 300-acre green oasis in the midst of farmlands to the west of the Clark County Fairgrounds.
West Fork Buttermilk
North Cascades > Methow/Sawtooth
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Length
- 15.0 miles, roundtrip
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Elevation Gain
- 3,615 feet
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Highest Point
- 7,480 feet
Hike this 7.4 mile forested trail in the Lake Chelan-Sawtooth Wilderness. You'll wander among gorgeous stands of ponderosa pines and larches, reaching 7,480 feet at Fish Creek Pass.
West Fork Agnes Creek
Central Cascades > Entiat Mountains/Lake Chelan
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Length
- 17.0 miles, roundtrip
The West Fork Agnes Creek trail used to head west from Fivemile Camp on the Pacific Crest Trail (also known here as the South Fork Agnes Creek Trail). The West Fork Agnes Creek trail is now all but vanished. Navigating it is a rough bushwhack along the West Fork of Agnes Creek, with no destination except the base of 8115-foot Agnes Mountain.
West Crater
South Cascades > Mount St. Helens
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Length
- 1.0 miles, roundtrip
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Elevation Gain
- 430 feet
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Highest Point
- 4,131 feet
Hike to a small lava dome with an associated summit crater in southern Washington.
West Access Trail
Issaquah Alps > Squak Mountain
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Length
- 1.1 miles, roundtrip
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Elevation Gain
- 800 feet
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Highest Point
- 1,340 feet
This is the western approach to Squak Mountain. Here, you'll have access to the Coal Mine Trail, Bullitt Fireplace Trail, and Chybinski Loop Trail.
Wenberg County Park
Puget Sound and Islands > Seattle-Tacoma Area
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Highest Point
- 450 feet
This waterside park along Lake Goodwin has a short interpretive loop trail, as well as a campground and day-use area (with a swim beach!).
War Creek
North Cascades > Methow/Sawtooth
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Length
- 9.0 miles, one-way
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Elevation Gain
- 3,840 feet
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Highest Point
- 6,840 feet
The War Creek Trail starts out along the Twisp River, just outside the town of Twisp. It is one of the many great options for accessing the northern shores of Lake Chelan from the Twisp River Road. Although this trail officially ends at the ridge overlooking the lake it connects with the Purple Pass Trail, which descends to the shore.
Waptus Lake via Waptus River
Snoqualmie Region > Salmon La Sac/Teanaway
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Length
- 22.0 miles, roundtrip
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Elevation Gain
- 700 feet
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Highest Point
- 3,100 feet
Beginning from the heart of Salmon La Sac and terminating at the Pacific Crest Trail, the Waptus River trail offers miles of hiking through dry, open forest and beautiful lakes in the Alpine Lakes wilderness then a little bit of a climb before arriving at the iconic trail high on a ridgeline in the Central Cascades.
Waptus Pass
Snoqualmie Region > Salmon La Sac/Teanaway
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Length
- 6.0 miles, one-way
Hike a trail that connects the beautiful Waptus River trail to the popular Pete Lake trail. Along the way, pass three other trail junctions, leading to further adventures.
Walupt Lake and Walupt Creek
South Cascades > Goat Rocks
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Length
- 8.8 miles, roundtrip
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Elevation Gain
- 1,000 feet
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Highest Point
- 5,000 feet
Used largely as part of the Nannie Peak Loop, Walupt Lake and Creek are a nice little hike in their own right. While not big on views, the flat grade of this trail makes it a good outing for families, since the river partway through the route offers a good turnaround point if little legs get tired. If you want to keep exploring, head up to where this trail terminates at the Pacific Crest Trail, and see if you can meet some thru-hikers.
Wagon Road Trail
Snoqualmie Region > Snoqualmie Pass
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Length
- 1.9 miles, roundtrip
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Elevation Gain
- 353 feet
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Highest Point
- 2,604 feet
This comfortable, easy to follow trail winds through intermittent old growth, occasional remnants of the past, and alongside a sometimes babbling and other times a crashing creek. You will follow the original Snoqualmie Pass Wagon Road, and it is possible to connect with the trail to Franklin Falls for a scenic and delightful 2-mile loop.
Volcano View Trail
South Cascades > Mount St. Helens
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Length
- 1.6 miles, roundtrip
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Elevation Gain
- 400 feet
The Volcano View Trail completes a trifecta of great hikes for children near Mount St. Helens, offering hikers of every age a mile-long nature trail that curves around stumps, boulders and hemlocks.
Vancouver Lake - North Trail
Southwest Washington > Vancouver Area
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Length
- 2.8 miles, roundtrip
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Elevation Gain
- 132 feet
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Highest Point
- 54 feet
A gentle meandering barrier-free path leads through a mature cottonwood forest just west of Vancouver Lake. Although you can't see the lake through all the trees, there are other sights and sounds to enjoy along this route. Most notably the vibrant greens of the understory in spring, beautiful fall yellows and quite a few species of birds nearly all year.