Foss River Cabin › Hikes near Stevens Pass

Hikes near Stevens Pass, by how far you actually drive

Nine trailheads in and around the Foss River valley, closest first. Two of them are on the road the cabin is on, which is the reason this stretch of gravel is worth knowing about at all.

Last checked 21 September 2026

Most people planning a trip to Stevens Pass are looking at the resort, or at the pass report. The valley on the west side gets skipped, and it holds some of the best alpine lake hiking in the Cascades — plus a handful of short, flat walks that work with small kids and grandparents along.

Everything below is measured from Foss River Cabin, the rental we run on the valley floor. Times are summer driving times, and the gravel sections are slower than the map thinks. The table is nearest first; the write-ups underneath are grouped by which road you take, because that is how a day actually gets planned.

The two at the end of the road

Both leave from Foss River Road, the gravel road running south off Highway 2 just east of the Skykomish Ranger Station. It is the road the cabin is on.

Necklace Valley

Drive ~10 min Full hike 16 mi, ~3,000 ft Short version 3 mi, flat

The trailhead is 4.1 miles up Foss River Road, parking on the left. This is the hike that makes people fall in love with the valley: alpine lakes named Jade, Emerald, Opal and Cloudy, sitting in a granite basin above the treeline.

It is also genuinely hard. The first four and a half miles follow the East Fork Foss River along an old railroad grade and barely climb. Then you cross the river — a real crossing, dangerous in high water — and the trail gains roughly 2,500 feet in a little over two miles. Most people do it as an overnight.

The part nobody mentions: that first flat stretch is a lovely walk on its own. Old growth, river access, no elevation. Turn around at a mile and a half and you are back at the cabin for lunch.

West Fork Foss Lakes

Drive ~20 min Trout Lake ~3 mi Big Heart Lake ~14 mi

Continue past the Necklace Valley lot to about mile 4.7, then turn onto Road 6835 for another two miles. Trail 1064 strings together five lakes — Trout, Malachite, Copper, Little Heart and Big Heart — each further and quieter than the last.

It is the best pick for most groups because you choose your own distance. Trout Lake is a short, mild walk and a perfectly good destination. Copper is a solid day. Big Heart is a long one, or an overnight.

The lot holds twenty-odd cars and fills by mid-morning on summer weekends. Trail 1064 is hiker-only, so no bikes and no horses.

Evans Lake

Drive ~25 min Round trip ~1 mi

A short, easy walk to a small lake, and the least-known trail here. It sits high on Foss River Road, which is the catch: the Forest Service has reported damage on the upper road that prevents access to the top. Worth asking before you plan around it.

Short walks on Highway 2

Deception Falls

Drive ~12 min Round trip half a mile

A signed pullout with a paved loop, interpretive signs and a very loud waterfall about a hundred feet from the car. The one to do on an arrival afternoon when nobody wants to commit to anything.

Iron Goat Trail

Drive ~20 min Round trip 2–6 mi Grade nearly flat

Built along the abandoned Great Northern Railway grade, past snowsheds and tunnels from the line that ran here until the current Cascade Tunnel opened in 1929. Flat, because trains do not climb well, which makes it the rare hike that is both historically interesting and easy on the legs.

The lower grade, from the Martin Creek trailhead, is packed dirt and gravel and is the barrier-free section. The upper loop and the Windy Point viewpoint are not — reaching Windy Point means a long, steep climb.

Heybrook Lookout

Drive ~25 min Round trip ~2 mi Climb ~980 ft

Short, steep, and it ends at a fire lookout tower you can climb for a straight-on view of Mount Index and Bridal Veil Falls. High reward per mile. Parking is small and roadside.

Worth the longer drive

Lake Dorothy

Drive ~35 min to the gate Round trip ~18.5 mi, ~2,900 ft

Up the Miller River road west of Skykomish. A steady climb through mossy forest to a big, deep lake at the wilderness boundary — normally the shortest way into genuine alpine lake country from anywhere near here, at about three miles round trip.

Not at the moment. The Forest Service has Miller River Road (FSR 6412) closed to vehicles at mile 1.75, which adds roughly four miles of road walking each way. That turns a morning stroll into an 18-mile day. If you read "Lake Dorothy, 3 miles" anywhere else, that figure is from before the washout.

Barclay Lake

Drive ~35 min Round trip ~4.4 mi Climb minimal

The classic first backpacking trip for Puget Sound families, and an easy day hike: a nearly flat walk to a lake sitting directly under the north face of Baring Mountain. That wall above the water is the reason to go.

One thing to know before you take small children: the footlog over Barclay Creek, about a mile and a bit in, was removed for safety in 2026 and a replacement has no date. Check how the creek is running.

Wallace Falls

Drive ~40 min Round trip ~5.6 mi to the Upper Falls

The most popular hike on this side of the pass, which is both a recommendation and a warning. A 265-foot waterfall with viewpoints at three levels — the Middle Falls viewpoint, the one on the postcards, is about two and a half miles in. Go early or go midweek. It is a State Park, so a Discover Pass covers it — not a Northwest Forest Pass.

What you need before you go

A parking pass, for the Forest Service trailheads. Six of the nine sit on National Forest land where a recreation pass is required — Necklace Valley, West Fork Foss, Evans Lake, Iron Goat at Martin Creek, Barclay Lake and Lake Dorothy. A Northwest Forest Pass, an Interagency pass, or day use paid on site all work. A Washington Discover Pass does not work at these; it is what you need at Wallace Falls, which is the reverse. Only Deception Falls and Heybrook Lookout need nothing. Worth sorting out before you are standing at a kiosk with no signal.

A wilderness permit, which is free. Necklace Valley and West Fork Foss both enter the Alpine Lakes Wilderness. A self-issue permit is required for day and overnight use from mid-May to the end of October. You fill it in at the trailhead; there is nothing to arrange in advance.

Dogs on leash, groups of twelve or fewer in the wilderness. Dogs are welcome at the cabin too.

No signal. Cell service ends not far up Foss River Road and does not come back. Download your map before you leave — the cabin has fibre, so do it over our wifi rather than finding out at the trailhead.

When to come

The high lakes hold snow late. Necklace Valley and the upper West Fork Foss lakes are generally a July-through-October proposition, and in a heavy year the basins still have snow in early July. Trout Lake, Barclay, Dorothy and everything on Highway 2 open much earlier.

Late September and early October are the quiet secret: the crowds have gone back to work, the bugs are finished, the larches turn, and lots that were full in August have space at nine in the morning.