Chain Lakes Loop
North Cascades
As of June 23, 2026, the Chain Lakes Loop in the Mount Baker area has significant snow, particularly past the junction with the Ptarmigan Ridge trail. While the initial section from Artist Point to the viewpoint offers stunning views, expect snow crossings, some of which are dubious due to melt. Trekking poles and spikes are recommended for these areas. One report from June 21st indicates the entire loop is passable but requires navigating snowfields, including a large one descending towards Mazama Lake that can be glissaded. The trail then becomes snow-free to Mazama and Glacier Lakes, with some remaining ice on Glacier Lake. Parking at Artist Point was ample early in the morning on both June 21st and 23rd.
generated from 41 reports
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Note: We only hiked from the parking lot to the viewpoint near the junction with Ptarmigan Ridge trail and then returned.Started the trail around 8am, there were some cars in the lot but plenty of roo...
I've wanted to do this one for a while, and now that I live in Bellingham, I decided to get up this weekend and finally tackle the Chain Lakes loop. There weren't a lot of recent reports for the loop,...
Lots of people but plenty of space. Saw lots of Pika and chipmunks.
We were fortunate to be able to get out for a mid week loop around Chain Lakes and avoid the weekend crowds. We started at the Heather Meadows Visitor Center parking lot and went clockwise, starting w...
Beautiful hike as always. It was sunny, breezy, and smoke free today in the area, with a few amazing lenticular clouds floating around.Many people, not many wildlife encounters. A few American Dippers...
We did a three day backpacking trip with our two children 4 and 8. The trail was in decent condition, but I don’t think this was the best trip for small children due to the rocky nature and we had to ...
Beautiful hike. I hiked from Artist point parking lot over the road to Begley lake, then up and over the mountains to Chain lakes. The weather was perfect!
We started at 11am at the Austin Pass / Heather Meadows Visitor Center and went counter-clockwise. Yesterday was foggy and we saw virtually nothing, we camped down the road and came back today. It was...
Trails were well maintained, a couple areas of trail erosion from folks cutting corners on switchbacks overlooking Bagley Lakes, on the route west, up towards Hermann's Saddle, but otherwise good cond...
stunning views even with a bit of smoke from the fires. I got to the Heather Meadows visitor center around 11 o’clock and there are a lot of parking. I decided to start counterclockwise direction and ...
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