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Quick Facts

Location: Ross Lake NRA, North Cascades Scenic Highway

Land Agency: National Park Service

Roundtrip: 4.5 miles

Elevation Gain: 1,500 feet

Contact: North Cascades National Park Visitors Center Newhalem; (206) 386-4495 ext. 11; www.nps.gov/noca/index.htm

Green Trails Map: Diablo, WA- No. 48

Special Note: Dogs must be leashed.

Access: From Marblemount follow the North Cascades Highway (SR 20) east for 21 miles to trailhead located on your right; park on left side of road just beyond.

“Lake” is an overstatement. Pond, maybe. Pyramid puddle is more like it! Don’t do this hike anticipating a grand body of water at the end of the trail. Do it for the trees! An impressive cathedral of ancient forest lines the way to Pyramid Lake. This hike is definitely more about the journey than the destination—and it is quite a journey through a forest that has stood in place for centuries.

And while the lake isn’t much, this easily accessible trail gets a fair amount of hiker traffic as it makes for a good spring conditioner or a late fall snow-prober. Trail starts right besides Pyramid Creek. Catch its cool breezes—then immediately get to work climbing. Under a thin canopy of lodgepole pine, work your way up a ledge. It’s slow going here with roots, loose rocks, and tread-choking salal. Hang in, it gets better.

Marching up a rib above the crashing creek, periodically peer over your shoulder through the sparse forest-cover for glimpses of Davis Peak and Sourdough Mountain across the Skagit Valley. After about a mile the pine and fir forest transitions to mature hemlocks. Come to a branch of Pyramid Creek and hop across it to a beautiful cedar grove.

Now alongside the babbling waterway continue climbing. Towering ancient cedars and Douglas-fir soon humble your stature. Make one final grunt. Cross the babbling creek once more and arrive at Pyramid Lake shortly afterwards. Not much huh? Actually there is if you look at this body of water through ecological eyes. Rough-skinned newts thrive here. Look for them floating near the surface and hiding in the detritus, And those big ole logs floating in the lake harbor scads of sundew, an omnivorous plant. No need for you or the newts to worry though, they prefer puny insects.

For information on trails around Pyramid Lake, check out my Day Hiking North Cascades Book.