Trip Report
Day Hike - Lake 22
A wildly popular alpine lake with ginormous cedars and stunning views. Be warned: it will be CLOSED for trail maintenance M-F July 15-October -- giant trees have toppled and trail has been prepped with gravel and wood in spots for enhancements.
Courtenay Schurman
- Thu, Jul 3, 2025
- Lake 22
- Day Hiking
- Successful
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- Road suitable for all vehicles
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About an hour north of our North Seattle residence. Three of us took our dog to Lake 22 and arrived at 9:10 a.m. on Thursday, 7/3, to find the lot completely full, except for overflow parking on the side. We grabbed the second to last spot along the entry. Have a valid Northwest Forest Parking Pass and adhere to parking guidelines as Granite Falls police DO police this area and WILL issue citations.
If you use the left privvy, have someone watch the door for you or use the right, as the left door doesn't close cleanly. Heavy foot traffic is expected over the next two weeks so consider bringing TP like others have mentioned on WTA. We must have encountered 200 people on the morning.
There is definitely evidence of upcoming trail work - from Monday to Friday July 15-October the trail will be closed for maintenance. Gravel and lumber piles have been choppered in, and pink markers show where work will be done.
About 1.75 miles up there is a huge pile of debris/trash in a trail cart; I'm hoping it will be choppered out. I was unclear whether it was collected from the trail or if there was a trash kiosk somewhere that overflowed.
Our trip started at 9:10 and ended at 12:45. On the way up we enjoyed the waterfall, humongous cedars, and heard 15 bird species, including a lovely little family of mallards (mama and 7 pretty good sized ducklings) as well as Swainson and Varied Thrush songs, and of course the continuous trill of the Pacific wrens. We enjoyed picking fresh blueberries on the hike down -- yum!
It's a lovely trail and a great ankle workout -- watch carefully for slick or sharp rocks and tangles of roots especially a few that could catch a boot.
Bring plenty of water for your pooch as the talus slope can be tough on dogs in the heat. I wore a head net while I waded in the lake and that solved any bug problems.
The area is stunning, the lake is beautiful, and the views across the lake and north are gorgeous. We enjoyed wading in the ice-cold lake below melting snow and it was great to get out before the Fourth holiday. Go early OR mid-day when the first round of hikers are leaving to avoid parking citations ("GOOD TO TOW" warnings were on about 30+ cars when we got down around 12:45.)
I look forward to seeing what the trail looks like perhaps in early November after the crowds have dispersed and the maintenance crews have finished their work. If you are looking for solace and/or birdsong on the trail, consider looking elsewhere.