Trail Suggestions for Methow Valley/Winthrop WA area
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sheilakpdx
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Trail Suggestions for Methow Valley/Winthrop WA area
Heading for a week up to the Winthrop/Methow Valley/Mazama WA area on the 23rd and am wondering if anyone has some trail suggestions. Looking for ones around 6-8 miles. Thanks for any help you can provide! Sheila
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adamschneider
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Re: Trail Suggestions for Methow Valley/Winthrop WA area
Check out the Harts Pass area. It's fun because it's the highest-elevation road in Washington.
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olderthanIusedtobe
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Re: Trail Suggestions for Methow Valley/Winthrop WA area
Good suggestion by adamschneider. From near Meadows Campground you can access the PCT for a cool stretch of trail to Grasshopper Pass. There's also Slate Peak nearby, I've never done that one.
Off of Hwy 20 there are some good ones. Maple Pass loop is nice. Cutthroat Pass is good also, 2 different options for that one--along the PCT directly from the highway, or from the Cutthroat Lake trailhead. Either way it's worth going a bit further to Granite Pass for a fantastic view of some high peaks just to the north--Tower, Golden Horn, Hardy, Azurite. Blue Lake is a short, scenic hike, haven't done that one. It's a bit further west but Easy Pass is another option. Not my favorite in that area though, I'd recommend one of those others before that. Probably some other options near Hwy 20 I'm not thinking of.
Probably a bunch of possibilities up the Twisp River Rd., I haven't explored out there much. Twisp is just south of Winthrop.
I did this one many years ago, can't even remember exactly how to get to it, but Copper Glance Lake was a decent hike. We were staying in Winthrop for several days so it's somewhat close by.
Off of Hwy 20 there are some good ones. Maple Pass loop is nice. Cutthroat Pass is good also, 2 different options for that one--along the PCT directly from the highway, or from the Cutthroat Lake trailhead. Either way it's worth going a bit further to Granite Pass for a fantastic view of some high peaks just to the north--Tower, Golden Horn, Hardy, Azurite. Blue Lake is a short, scenic hike, haven't done that one. It's a bit further west but Easy Pass is another option. Not my favorite in that area though, I'd recommend one of those others before that. Probably some other options near Hwy 20 I'm not thinking of.
Probably a bunch of possibilities up the Twisp River Rd., I haven't explored out there much. Twisp is just south of Winthrop.
I did this one many years ago, can't even remember exactly how to get to it, but Copper Glance Lake was a decent hike. We were staying in Winthrop for several days so it's somewhat close by.
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olderthanIusedtobe
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Re: Trail Suggestions for Methow Valley/Winthrop WA area
Just a little warning about the road to Harts Pass--it's narrow in places w/ no barrier and a steep drop off on one side. Maybe not for the feint of heart, it can be a white knuckle experience in a few stretches. Mostly unpaved.
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adamschneider
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Re: Trail Suggestions for Methow Valley/Winthrop WA area
It's true... one of the scariest roads I've seen, from an acrophobic's perspective. But perfectly passable in my Toyota Yaris.olderthanIusedtobe wrote:Just a little warning about the road to Harts Pass--it's narrow in places w/ no barrier and a steep drop off on one side. Maybe not for the feint of heart, it can be a white knuckle experience in a few stretches. Mostly unpaved.