Revision as of 23:20, 13 January 2021

On the south shore of Thomas Lake, Indian Heaven Wilderness (bobcat)

Typical Indian Heaven meadow on the Thomas Lake Trail (bobcat)

At Rock Lake, Indian Heaven Wilderness (bobcat)

Blueberry carpet in the fall, Rock Lake, Indian Heaven (bobcat)

The south end of the Lemei Lake Trail at Junction Lake, Indian Heaven (bobcat)

Tombstone Lake, Indian Heaven (bobcat)

Blue Lake and Gifford Peak (bobcat)

• Start point: Thomas Lake Trailhead
• End Point: Clear Lake
• Distance: 12.2 miles + up to 3.2 optional miles
• Hike type: Lollipop loop
• Elevation gain: 1675 feet
• High Point: 5,145 feet
• Difficulty: Moderate
• Seasons: Summer to mid-fall
• Family Friendly: No
• Backpackable: Yes
• Crowded: On the Thomas Lake Trail

Hike Description

For Indian Heaven aficionados, this hike takes you on a moderate-length day hike through the heart of Indian Heaven country visiting 15 trailside lakes as well as stretches of montane forest and open meadows. If you add 3.2 miles in short deviations from the main trails, then you'll be able to reach an additional seven named lakes, making 22 in all if you're willing to hike 15.4 miles! (Note that this total doesn't count numerous small lakes and tarns that don't have official names.) The extra lakes add another 375 feet of elevation gain, and of course it's your choice as to how many of the options you want to make. In order to make this the most efficient excursion, a short section of the route uses an abandoned section of the Pacific Crest Trail.

At the trailhead, there’s a wilderness permit station and a boot brush. There’s also a map which shows the locations of designated campsites in the areas of Thomas Lake, Eunice Lake, and Blue Lake. The well-traveled Thomas Lake Trail ascends a series of erosion steps in secondary woodland. As you get higher, you can look back to get a partial view of Mount Saint Helens. Soon, however, you’ll enter montane forest with a canopy of mountain hemlock, silver fir, and noble fir. The trail switchbacks and proceeds on the level through an open huckleberry understory. Soon after passing the wilderness sign, you’ll see Dee Lake on your left.

Diversion #1 (Lake Kwaddis) - 0.5 miles: A narrow trail to the right leads to designated campsites around Thomas Lake, a large body of water that stretches south from trail. A narrow path leads down the west shore of Thomas Lake. Just south of Thomas Lake is secluded Lake Kwaddis. You can return to the Thomas Lake Trail by hiking up the east shore of Thomas Lake. From the junction with the Thomas Lake Trail, you can go left across a footbridge to see Heather Lake.

Continuing east on the Thomas Lake Trail, you'll soon reach the Thomas Lake-Eunice Lake Trail Junction at the base of a slope.

Diversion #2 (Eunice Lake) - 0.2 miles: Bear left to visit Eunice Lake, passing a small tarn on the left. Eunice Lake is a quiet lake nestled below a mossy talus slope in deep forest.

Return to the main trail, and wind up to switchback and reach the top of a rise. The trail levels, and you’ll get a glimpse left to the snowy summit of Mount Rainier. After crossing an extended turnpike, you’ll see a user trail leading left for a view to Mount Saint Helens and down to Eunice Lake through the trees. Pass across a typical Indian Heaven meadow, where blueberry clumps turn crimson in the fall. Cross a couple of boardwalks to reenter the forest. A creek runs to the left of the trail, which soon begins to rise. After you see a small nameless lake off to the left, look for a path leading up for a view down to Brader Lake. (A faint path leads steeply down to the shore of this lake. There’s a single backcountry campsite on the peninsula that juts into Brader Lake.)

The trail keeps rising, and a spur leads right to a small, unnamed lake. Switchback at a talus slope, and ascend more steeply to switchback again to get a fuller view of Mount Rainier. The trails then winds gradually down past Naha Lake on the right. The burned slopes of East Crater loom ahead as you enter an open meadow to reach a multi-signed junction. Here, the Thomas Lake Trail makes a sharp right, while a section of the old Cascade Crest Trail heads off to the north. You’re going to keep straight a few yards, however, to reach picturesque Rock Lake in its open meadow.

Diversion #3 (Little Rock Lake) - 0.2 miles: Find a path leading south along Rock Lake's west shore. Soon you’ll come to secluded Little Rock Lake.

From the four-way junction, head north on the old alignment of the Cascade Crest Trail. The route is faint in the first meadow, but pretty obvious from there on. You’ll drop through a thin forest, filled with huckleberries. The trail here has been quite eroded by runoff and you’ll need watch for rocks in the tread. Soon the trail drops into a large meadow with a weaving creek. When the creek dries in the late summer, the creekbed becomes a long, irregular pond through the meadow. The path here is clear, but even so, it’s marked with aging yellow poles. The trail continues northward for 1.8 miles through several beautiful meadows. You’ll see a few sections of braided trail and it seems obvious that Forest Service moved the trail to protect these fragile meadows from further damage. Reach the unmarked Chenamus Lake-Cascade Crest Trail Junction, and keep right to cross a rocky creek bed and pass across another opening into montane woods. The trail rises to Acker Lake on the left and a small lake on the right. Just north of Acker Lake, there’s a trail junction marked with a red board nailed to a tree. Take the right fork and leave the old Cascade Crest Trail here. Head up a steep path for about 1/10 of a mile to the crest of the ridge. At the top, you’ll be overlooking Bear Lake from the Elk Lake Trail. There’s a use path down to shore of the lake, and it's a short distance east to the Pacific Crest Trail.

Diversion #4 (Elk Lake) - 0.8 miles: Take the Elk Lake Trail west above the south shore of Bear Lake to see less-visited Elk Lake (see the Elk Lake Add-on Hike).

From the junction with the Elk Lake Trail, the Pacific Crest Trail gradually ascends through the conifers, where you'll note some impressive old-growth noble firs. Soon, Deer Lake appears below as you come to the Pacific Crest-Indian Heaven Trail Junction, where you'll bear right. The Indian Heaven Trail rises above Clear Lake. A spur leads down to the quiet shore and a couple of campsites. After traversing a massive scree slope, you will hike a short, steep rise to the junction with the Lemei Lake Trail #179.

Diversion #5 (Cultus Lake and Deep Lake) - 1.2 miles: Keep left on the Indian Heaven Trail, and gradually rise in a montane woodland of small meadows to pass the Lemei Trail leading off to your right. Soon, shallow Cultus Lake appears just east of the trail. Lemei Rock, the highest peak in the Indian Heaven Wilderness, looms behind. Just north of Cultus Lake, you'll come to the junction with the Deep Lake Trail. Make a right to cross Cultus Creek on a footbridge near where it flows out from Cultus Lake. Hike up a slope to reach Deep Lake. Standing on the south shore, you'll see Mount Adams' snowy summit peeking above the surrounding forest. Paths lead left and right to access campsites.

From the Indian Heaven-Lemei Lake Trail Junction, the rutted Lemei Lake Trail descends very gradually. You'll pass the east end of an abandoned section of the Elk Lake Trail on the right. Cross a big meadow, and then reenter old-growth montane forest. A creek runs to the right, and you'll come close to it when you hike through the next meadow. Rush Creek's north fork, east of where it enters Lemei Lake, entails a quick rock hop. The trail then skirts boggy meadows at Lemei Lake, from which you can get a view east to Lemei Rock. A footbridge and turnpike lead through a linear meadow before the trail switchbacks twice up a slope. From a couple of meadows with shallow tarns, you'll enjoy more vistas to Lemei Rock. Descend the deeply incised track to a small meadow, and cross three creeks, the last one being Rush Creek's middle fork. After crossing a large open expanse, The Lemei Lake Trail begins to drop gradually, winding down through pocket meadows onto a ridge of old growth. A switchback and traverse take you down to the shore of Junction Lake, where you'll walk past a campsite and reach the Pacific Crest-Lemei Lake Trail Junction.

Head south on the Pacific Crest Trail into a montane slope forest, passing the Pacific Crest-East Crater Trail Junction. The trail traverses the west slope of East Crater. At a break in the trees, you’ll catch a glimpse of Sawtooth Mountain to the north and then later of Mount Saint Helens. Note also some large mountain hemlocks and noble firs. The trail begins to drop along the edge of the 2017 East Crater Burn, where bear-grass and false hellebore bloom in the summer. The PCT then switchbacks to leave the burn area and wind down a slope where several conifers were toppled in a September 2020 windstorm. Soon, you’ll see Blue Lake and come to the junction with the Thomas Lake Trail.

Diversion #6 (Tombstone Lake) - 0.3 miles: Continue a short distance south on the Pacific Crest Trail to reach the junction with the Tombstone Lake Trail #55. Make a left to pass some designated campsites and a small unnamed lake on the right. The trail drops steeply on a rubble track to Tombstone Lake, closely hemmed in by conifers with a skirt of berry bushes, brightly colored in the fall. Continue around to the right and reach a trail junction. Left takes you to a campsite and access to the lake shore. Going right and heading out of the small meadow is the track of the Cascade Crest Trail (CCT).

From the Pacific Crest-Thomas Lake Trail Junction, hike west on the Thomas Lake Trail above the shore of Blue Lake. The rugged north face of Gifford Peak looms above the lake, and short spur trails lead to the shore. The trail rises to reach Lake Sahalee Tyee on the right, where a spur leads to the only designated campsite. Past this lake, the trail continues rises, with a gully on the right, to cross a creek at the head of the gully. Pass a linear meadow and then a tarn. At the tarn, you’ll see the former route of the Pacific Crest Trail heading north to join the section you took to reach Junction Lake. Next, on your left you’ll pass a couple of shallow lakes. Just behind the screen of trees behind these two lakes is Lake Umtux. The Thomas Lake Trail crosses a couple of rock-filled creeks to enter a meadow and reach the Thomas Lake-Rock Lake-Cascade Crest Trail Junction and close the loop. Turn left here to return to the trailhead.

Maps

• Maps: Hike Finder
• Green Trails Maps: Wind River, WA #397 and Lone Butte, WA #365
• Indian Heaven (USFS)
• U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service: Mt. Adams Wilderness, Indian Heaven Wilderness, Trapper Creek Wilderness
• U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service: Mt. Adams Ranger District
• U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service: Gifford Pinchot National Forest
• National Geographic Trails Illustrated Map: Mount St. Helens - Mt. Adams

Fees, Regulations, etc.

• Northwest Forest Pass required
• Self-issued wilderness permit
• Outhouse, picnic table, boot brush at trailhead
• $2 toll at Bridge of the Gods each way
• Near Thomas Lake, Blue Lake, Bear Lake, and Tombstone Lake, camp at designated sites only

Trip Reports

• Search Trip Reports for Indian Heaven Lakes Loop

Related Discussions / Q&A

• Search Trail Q&A for Indian Heaven Lakes Loop

Guidebooks that cover this destination

• 100 Classic Hikes: Washington by Craig Romano
• One Night Wilderness: Portland by Douglas Lorain
• 95 Virtual Hikes of the Gifford Pinchot National Forest and the Mt. St. Helens National Volcanic Monument by Northwest Hiker
• Indian Heaven Back Country by Mel Hansen

More Links

• Trail #111 Thomas Lake (USFS)
• Trail #2000 Pacific Crest, Mt. Adams area (USFS)
• Trail #33 Indian Heaven (USFS)
• Trail #179 Lemei Lake (USFS)
• Indian Heaven Lake Loop Hike (Northwest Hiker)
• Panther Creek Falls and Indian Heaven Wilderness (wanderingyuncks)
• Wilderness: Indian Heaven (USFS)

Page Contributors

• bobcat (creator)