We often detail day hikes – check out our full archive here.
If you live in Washington, it’s time to pencil in a weekend to see the larches! If you’re not familiar with larches, they’re the bright yellow pine trees in the photo above. Larches are deciduous conifers meaning they have needles instead of leaves and although they are conifers, larches are deciduous trees that lose their needles during autumn. Pretty neat!
I hadn’t seen a larch until I moved to Washington state. They are native to much of the cooler temperate northern hemisphere, on lowlands in the north and high on mountains further south. Larches are among the dominant plants in the boreal forests of Siberia and Canada. In the U.S., you can find larches in Oregon, Idaho, Montana, here in Washington. In Washington, you can typically count on larches being in bloom at the end of September and the beginning of October. The vibrant color varies each year and is different depending on the time and elevation, so your best bet is to get out there early and often. Larches can grow to be big boys – sometimes reaching 150 feet tall.
If you’re looking for a nice walk with bright autumn color, any old hike will do ya, but I highly recommend hiking to Blue Lake. Note there are at least six lakes named ‘Blue Lake’ in Washington (and another Blue Lake that Kate visited in Colorado!). I’m referring to the one just off of Highway 20 in the North Cascades. Blue Lake is an amazing Seattle weekend getaway destination. This beautiful 4.5 mile out and back hike features towering granite peaks, evergreen forests, meadows and slide areas with wildflowers and foliage, and of course the most beautiful blue mountain lake.
If you’re traveling from Seattle, it will take you about two hours and forty minutes to Blue Lake. Blue Lake is a sparkly gem surrounded by sheer granite peaks and it would not be a stretch to say it’s the most beautiful lake I’ve ever seen and way up there on my short list of best hikes. That’s no giveaway coming from someone who has been hiking and backpacking since the age of eight. Someone who has hiked across mountain ranges in Nepal and through jungles in Thailand, this hike was freaking amaze balls. If you’re within a three-hour radius, grab your boots, drive to Blue Lake, and start walking.
I’m going to go out on a limb here and say we also caught Blue Lake at the best possible time of year. Before setting out on this hike (back in 2018!), I had no idea the larches were in bloom. I actually had no idea what larches were, but now I plan weekend adventures around these beauties. You have to catch them when they change color before the needles fall. You’ll be ooing and aahing every step of the way. Just for reference, this hike to Blue Lake was during the last weekend in September, on the 29th to be exact.