Lake Twentytwo is one of my favorite day hikes in the Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest and only about one and a half hour northeast of Seattle. But because it’s such a beautiful alpine lake and perfect day hike, it is also one of the most popular hikes along the Mountain Loop Highway.
Getting to Lake TwentyTwo
The Lake 22 trailhead is along the mountain loop highway with a large parking area that holds around 50 cars. Even though it is large, due to the popularity of the trail, this fills up quickly, especially on weekends and holidays. If the parking lot is full you can go not a minute up the road and on the left hand side is a small picnic area with additional parking and bathrooms.
Pay attention to the no parking signs in the main parking area, if you ignore the signs you will receive a ticket and some cars even get a white chalk on their windows to indicate they are illegally parked (this may be for tow trucks, but I cannot confirm that).
Permits and Passes
This trail requires either a northwest forest pass or an America the beautiful pass. Not a discover pass.
Hiking logistics and information
The trail is a gravel loop hiking trail, though I say loop, it’s mostly an out and back with a loop around the lake itself. Round trip the trek is 5.4 miles with an elevation gain of 1,350 feet.
It is considered a moderate hike and is good for all skill levels, but some sections of the trail are exposed and on a hot day can be a tough challenge. It’s also possible to utilize this trail in the winter months, where it becomes more accessible via snowshoe.
The beginning of the trail and really the first half takes you through old-growth forest, mountain rainforests and a large boulder field. Where it opens up at the boulder field it’s a great vantage point to the other nearby mountains and has some spectacular views. So, while you catch your breath on this more challenging section, make sure to take a look around.
When you arrive at the picturesque lake, it is a great place to stop and have some lunch and take a swim. The hike is very dog friendly and fun for them to cool off with a swim too.
On a clear day, you can get mountain views of northern shoulder of Mount Pilchuk on the far side of the lake. Walking around the lake you will cross over an avalanche chute which can still have melting snow even in the summer months.
Certain times of the year you will have to be aware of the bugs, they can be annoying when you are trying to spend time at the lake, but I found this less noticeable here than nearby Heather Lake (which is also a beautiful hike and a good backup plan if the Lake 22 parking lot is full or if the trail is closed for maintenance).
Concluding Thoughts
This is a very popular hike and a great spot in the summer months, when it’s hot and you can take the opportunity to cool down. Because you can access this trail all year, there really is no best time of year to visit, though one could argue that it’s when there are less crowds. But there’s a good reason the crowds are there, it’s an amazing time when you can spend the day by the lake, fishing or swimming or just hanging out.
There are a lot of challenging hikes in the Pacific Northwest and just in Washington state and Lake Twentytwo is one of the easy hikes, so lots of people take advantage of that and you should too. If you do get stuck and have nowhere to park or the trail happens to be closed, I highly recommend checking out the Heather Lake Trail. It has a similar feel and is a great swimming spot as well but a shorter trail at only 2 miles.
