The Blue Lake Hike in Washington is one of the best hikes in North Cascades National Park. The North Cascades has a lot of longer hikes and this is definitely the best short (shorter) hike in the park. With being under five miles this hike will take you very quickly to those majestic blue mountain lakes. Here is everything you need to know about the hike, from parking, time, length, and what to bring on the Blue Lake Hike.

Stats

Distance: 4.4 miles round trip (with an additional 1 mile add on)

Time: 2-4 hours

Elevation: 1050 feet

Difficulty: Moderate, a slow incline. A hike for all ages!

How To Get There

Many people reach this hike by either coming from the Diablo Lake area, in which we did, or the Winthrop direction.

If coming from Diablo Lake you will drive just about 30 miles on Highway 20, in which may take you about 40 minutes. The trailhead parking lot will be on your right. If you drive to the Washington Pass area you have gone too far.

From Winthrop the drive should you about 37 minutes along Highway 20. The trailhead will then be on your left, just about 3 minutes past Washington Pass.

Where To Stay

We stayed at the Colonial Creek Campground, if not camping I should suggest staying in Winthrop.

If planning to visit the North Cascades National Park be sure to check out The Best AirBnB Rentals for the North Cascades all these cabins look so cozy!

Booking.com

Parking

The parking lot is quite small for this popular hike. I would suggest getting there early to snag a parking spot in the lot. We had a campervan and got there just in time to get a spot big enough for us. By the time we ended the hike there were cars pulled of the main road, Highway 20, which were not the best of spots.

To park for this hike you are required to have a park pass. They ask for the Northwest Forest Pass, but the United States National Park (America The Beautiful Pass) pass covers this area and hike as well. We bought the annual pass as we were going to three National Parks during this trip.

A restroom is located at the trailhead for use before setting off on the hike.

When To Go

July is wildflower season for this area of Washington. Wildflower season makes the hikes just that much more beautiful and peaceful. By July the snow has mostly cleared off the trails as well. It is recommended to go on this hike between the months of July and November.

As for time of day, I always suggest getting to trail-heads of hikes as early as possible. Not only will this help you find a parking spot for this specific hike, it also allows you to beat the crowds, and lets you hike before the heat of the day starts. This hike was definitely more crowded by the time we got finished, we started it around 9:00 am.

The Hike

The Start

From the parking lot you will get on the trailhead at the restrooms. The path starts with a very flat area, there are some boardwalks along this area. I believe these were built to keep the area from becoming too muddy and to help keep the vegetation around it growing.

Along this path you will hear noise from the highway but quickly the noise fades and you are hiking among the trees, wildflowers, and goats in peace.

The Incline

The great thing about this hike is that even though you are hiking up to a blue mountain lake the incline is a very slow and steady one. This part starts its series of inclines with a few switchbacks. I remember switchbacks in some trails at Zion National Park and Bryce Canyon National Park that still give me nightmares, but these switchbacks were nothing! Slightly spraining my ankle this summer made it hard for me to go up and down hills, and I didn’t find this hike a problem at all! I never felt out of breath and we could talk easily which makes this hike a lot more enjoyable, and it has great views. Can’t get better than that!

A long the hike we only ran into a handful of people coming down from the hike. We started the hike around 9:00 am, you can read above for my tips on avoiding the crowds.

The Lake

The Blue Lake trail begins to level out and you will start hearing the streams flow from the lake through the trees. Right before we got to The Blue Lake we came up on a mountain goat chomping on some grass. Most mountain goats will not bother you, as long as you leave them alone. Keep your distance, try not to scare them, and wait until the path is cleared until you continue onto your hike. Some people like to wear small bells on their backpacks to help create a small noise to make animals aware you are in the area. You do not want to frighten a bear or goat by surprise.

Right before getting to the lake you will have a few options of which way you want to go. You can head left and walk along a path along the lakes edge or you can hike right, we choose right first. On our way back we checked out the path towards the left and both agreed the path to the right had better views. You could see the lake, trees and mountains better towards the right.

There are a few areas you can climb up on to sit on rocks and get your feet wet by the lake. This is a perfect place to stop and eat a snack or lunch. Do before in this area, they have lots of area blocked off to help grow vegetation back around the lake. There are more than enough spots to get a great view of the lake and take some pictures, so please don’t use an unmarked path as a cut through.

Extra Short Hike Pass The Lake

One of our favorite parts of this hike was the extra hike you can add on to this. This worth add a lot of time to your hike, nor be that difficult. We took the smaller trail to the right of the viewpoints of the lake (labeled on sign ‘Tarn-Loop TR. NO. 314). At first this path took us to a small unnamed pond you could walk around. Then the trees opened up to the right and we got to the the colorful mountains on the opposite side.

Both deciding that this might be worth exploring we continued on as it looked as it might bring us back to the Blue Lake. And it did! But even better views. Here we only saw one other person along this add on, it gave a little bit more peaceful views of the majestic mountains and lake.

To bring you back on to the main viewpoint it was a little bit of a rough and rocky path back. Not too bad, just some maneuvering and weed wacking as the trail seemed overgrown. Make you you stay on the paths or it may be more difficult.

After taking in the blue waters and mountain views head back on the same trail you came in on.

What To Bring

Since this is a rather short hike it is not necessary to bring too much. But these items are some things I always have on me no matter what type of hike.

Check out my post on What To Pack For Washington State in the Summer.

Ahnu Hiking Shoes: These go every where with me. They are my favorite hiking shoes ever!

Hiking Socks: They really do make a difference. I like the shorter type for summer, and longer ones for winter hikes. I wore long ones on this trip to wear under my ankle brace.

Travel Hiking Poles: I never thought I would want these but they are a game changer when it comes to saving my knees on these downhills. And this set is super affordable for a collapsible pair.

Day Pack: This Osprey brand and size is slowly becoming my favorite, perfect size for summer day hiking.

Water: Always make sure you have enough water on you, in case you decided to stay out longer on any trail. Usually for longer hikes I use a hydration bladder inside my daypack. But for short or city walks I love these Vapur Bottles and these Hydrapak Collapsible travel bottles.

Snacks: You never know when you need a pick me up or how long you might stay out. This lake is a perfect place to eat lunch. Pack and sandwich in enjoy by the lake, but make sure you pack your trash back out.

I always have a camera on me, check out my Camera Packing List for more information.