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
4235 HikesBluff Lake
South Cascades > Goat Rocks
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Length
- 3.0 miles, roundtrip
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Elevation Gain
- 1,000 feet
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Highest Point
- 3,840 feet
This forested trail to a small, secluded lake — uniquely set on a ridge with a few campsites— provides an easy day hike or backpack trip.
Blue Lake
South Cascades > Dark Divide
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Length
- 5.2 miles, roundtrip
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Elevation Gain
- 900 feet
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Highest Point
- 5,200 feet
This short, hiker-only trail in the Dark Divide connects hikers to an arresting, appropriately named blue lake jumping with fish. If you can get past its quiet shores, it's a short jaunt to connect with the Craggy Peak trail and miles of ridgeline hiking that the Dark Divide Roadless Area affords.
Blue Lake
North Cascades > Mount Baker Area
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Length
- 1.7 miles, roundtrip
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Elevation Gain
- 300 feet
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Highest Point
- 3,984 feet
The trailhead is inaccessible until further notice due to FR 12 closure.
One of several Blue Lakes in Washington State, this Blue Lake lies about four and a half miles south of Mount Baker and requires less than a mile of hiking to reach it. Its translucent blue-green colors peek out beneath the shadows of a sheer rock wall partially encircling the lake, a reward for conquering the somewhat eroded and rooty trail that leads to it. Families, anglers, and hikers looking to experience a pretty subalpine lake will enjoy this short, yet memorable hike.
Blake Island State Park
Puget Sound and Islands > Seattle-Tacoma Area
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Length
- 8.0 miles of trails
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Elevation Gain
- 190 feet
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Highest Point
- 190 feet
Originally home to the Suquamish Indian tribe and legendary for being the supposed birthplace of Chief Sealth, over the years Blake Island has also served as a timber source, a private estate, Army base, and even a smuggler’s refuge. It now may be best known for Tillicum Village, a Native American cultural center that is currently closed. Access to Blake Island State Park is only possible by personal watercraft.
Black Lake
North Cascades > Pasayten
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Length
- 8.0 miles, roundtrip
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Elevation Gain
- 780 feet
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Highest Point
- 3,982 feet
While snow still coats the high places of the Methow Valley, the hike to Black Lake offers early-season wildflowers amidst the recovery from a devastating 2003 wildfire.
Bird Creek Meadows
South Cascades > Mount Adams Area
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Length
- 3.0 miles, roundtrip
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Elevation Gain
- 800 feet
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Highest Point
- 6,500 feet
Bird Creek Meadows is a crowd pleaser of a hike. Known for its abundant wildflower meadows, views of Mount Adams and the Hellroaring Canyon, and little creeks, lakes and waterfalls, this trail provides a nice 5.2-mile loop for hikers.
Big Creek Trail
Snoqualmie Region > Cle Elum Area
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Length
- 9.0 miles, roundtrip
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Elevation Gain
- 2,400 feet
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Highest Point
- 3,700 feet
Wonder past streams, a deep canyon and old-growth trees on the Big Creek Trail. Located in the Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest, this narrow, rocky trail provides a challenge for adventurous hikers.
Berthusen Park
Puget Sound and Islands > Bellingham Area
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Length
- 2.4 miles of trails
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Elevation Gain
- 20 feet
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Highest Point
- 111 feet
Berthusen Park offers up plenty of great opportunities to get outdoors and explore. This beautiful park, the site of a homestead from the late 1800s, has antique farm machinery, a historical cabin, a big red barn and a great playground with a wonderful swing set for kids.
Bench Lake Loop
South Cascades > Mount Adams Area
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Length
- 3.4 miles, roundtrip
A hike near Mount Adams.
Bedal Basin
North Cascades > Mountain Loop Highway
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Length
- 5.2 miles, roundtrip
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Elevation Gain
- 1,900 feet
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Highest Point
- 4,700 feet
Follow a trail up an old mining trail before reaching a boulder-filled basin with views of Sloan Peak above. The first half of the hike is fairly easy, while the second is a steep climb through a creek bed. Navigational skills are required for this hike.
Beaver Lake Preserve
Issaquah Alps
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Length
- 1.2 miles, roundtrip
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Elevation Gain
- 50 feet
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Highest Point
- 460 feet
Hike a 1.2 mile loop trail through this forest preserve. Appreciate the exceptionally tall trees, both deciduous and coniferous. Pass some swampy areas with standing water, and note the exuberant growth of ferns and hanging moss.
Barnes Creek
Olympic Peninsula > Northern Coast
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Length
- 10.0 miles, roundtrip
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Elevation Gain
- 3,300 feet
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Highest Point
- 5,090 feet
A nice creekside hike within the Olympics with the option to check out Marymere Falls on the hike. This hike has all types of old growth and lush vegetation.
Bare Mountain
Snoqualmie Region > North Bend Area
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Length
- 8.6 miles, roundtrip
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Elevation Gain
- 3,300 feet
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Highest Point
- 5,353 feet
Bare Mountain, the site of a former fire lookout, is a superb viewpoint with mountains in every direction and lakes close by. In season, appreciate the great variety of wildflowers, beginning at the trailhead and continuing all the way to the summit. And be alert for birds and wild critters. They are out there.
Aurora 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.
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.