While much of Washington is a veritable backpacker’s paradise, its three national parks and the areas of national forest closest to the Seattle megalopolis seem to absorb the bulk of the crowds. The Alpine Lakes Wilderness, with its spectacular scenery and name-brand destinations like The Enchantments, and Mount Rainier, with its life-list Wonderland Trail, deservedly draw hordes of eager backpackers. But for those willing to travel a bit further east, incredible backpacking and ample opportunity for solitude await in the Pasyten Wilderness of the Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest.

At over 500,000 acres, the Pasayten Wilderness offers plenty of backpacking and hiking opportunities including a stretch of the Pacific Crest Trail.

The Pasayten Wilderness

Located to the east of the North Cascades National Park Service Complex, which needs no elaboration for its beauty and wealth of backpacking options, the Pasayten’s more than 500,000 acres offer another opportunity to experience a remarkable landscape. Without having to worry about getting coveted backcountry permits and sticking to an itinerary for campsites – regardless of the weather, energy levels, or how good the fishing is – the Pasyaten allows for a truly wild and free-flowing experience in a spectacular landscape. The western portion of the wilderness, similar to the North Cascades in its ruggedness, offers fantastic multi-day backpacking trips and is traversed, north to south, by the Pacific Crest Trail. The eastern portion offers several similar landscape features – such as alpine lakes and forested drainages – but also serves up grasslands, arctic tundra, and some fascinating historical features.

While it’s hard to go wrong with a trip in the Pasayten, an approximately 60-mile loop leaving from the Iron Gate Trailhead in the far eastern part of the wilderness provides an excellent sampling of what the area has to offer and passes by several spots sure to make for lasting memories. Other than a Northwest Forest Pass for the trailhead and a self-issued wilderness use permit, there are no bureaucratic hurdles to pulling this trip off. Only the weather and the amount of time you can dedicate will dictate your plans. Late July is an excellent time to hike this loop, with abundant wildflowers (and mosquitoes), and is rivaled only by late September with its golden larches (but chillier nights). Although I hiked this loop as a three-night, four-day trip you could easily spend twice as much time and not get bored. To fully enjoy this trip, it is strongly recommended that you spend no less than five nights. You could certainly cover the same amount of ground in a shorter time frame, but your ability to really savor the places you are passing through would be significantly diminished.

The Iron Gate Campground (primitive, no water services) makes a great spot to park and jump off into a grand tour of the Pasayten Wilderness. Situated at just over 6,000 feet, this trailhead lets your vehicle do much of the elevation gain and keeps your legs fresh for the easy jaunt into Horseshoe Basin. At only six miles and roughly 1,000 feet of climbing from the trailhead, Horseshoe Basin and its expansive rolling terrain – technically classified as arctic tundra – is one of the most incredible locales in eastern Washington. Several mountains rise up from the edges of the basin, making for a tempting diversion for those so inclined to walk up their summits, or at least the higher slopes of their ridges, for spectacular panoramas of the wilderness and surrounding areas.

From Horeshoe Basin, head west via the Boundary Trail (part of the Pacific Northwest Trail, which connects Glacier National Park to Olympic National Park), passing through some absolutely blissful stretches of forest scenery. When the larches are turning shades of yellow and gold before dropping their needles, some sections of this trail are intensely enchanting. Although forested, the forest is fortunately not devastated by the impacts of forest fires which mar other sections of the Pasayten (including, unfortunately, a significant chunk of this loop). With infrequent, but often impressive, views of the rugged mountain landscape, including the massive Teapot Dome, this fairly level section of trail allows you to make good time to the next “highlight” of this loop: the buildings associated with the defunct Tungsten Mine.

Natural landscapes have a captivating and enamoring quality, which is undoubtedly a major reason why myself and others choose to spend so much time in them, but I’m sometimes almost equally fascinated by the man-made structures that linger in wilderness areas long after their original purpose is gone. The buildings at Tungsten Mine are exceptionally charming examples of such structures and, as expected, fascinated me to no end. A bunkhouse with a stunning front porch view and plenty of room to get out of any undesirable weather (and a woodstove to warm up with) and a much larger, but deteriorating, building with a long dining table and several adjacent rooms are the main attractions. An outhouse also stands and is in rather good shape. Surrounding these buildings are various remnants of the mining and domestic activities of the men who lived and toiled here nearly a full century before.

Continuing on from Tungsten Mine, you make a moderate climb up to Apex Pass (7,300 feet) and then contour over towards Cathedral Pass. The views after Apex Pass are nothing short of remarkable, and they weren’t exactly leaving much to be desired previously. Quintessential mountain scenery and a great trail make the three miles to Cathedral Pass particularly enjoyable. Descending from Cathedral Pass, the Pasayten continues to offer up great camping, great fishing, and great scenery. When the larches are golden and the sky is blue, this place is the very definition of “sublime”.

The next stretch of trail is one to be cherished. Absolutely outstanding views of mountains near and far and lovely high country walking define the next stretch, but once you descend into the Remmel Creek drainage (and eventually the Chewuch River) you will be entering burned areas that can detract somewhat from the hiking experience. While the trail was in good-to-reasonably-good condition when hiked in 2018, trails in burned areas are subject to frequent – and almost always unpleasant – changes in condition. Fortunately, after passing through the burn area, you’ll find beautiful settings for camping and excellent opportunities for fishing, with the opportunity to summit a peak or two if desired.

Continuing on the main Chewuch River Trail, you will be in nearly continuous burn – some recent and rather severe – for a frustratingly long time. Depending on your ambition and schedule, a campsite near Horseshoe Creek provides one of the few reasonably comfortable and aesthetic spots to stay for a night. Paralleling the Chewuch River, the trail continues downstream through burned forest which, on the bright side, allows for views of the mountainsides and the river. On the too bright side, if the sun is shining and the temperatures are warm this can be a dusty, hot, and Vitamin D saturated walk. The Basin Creek Trail junction was, as of 2018, virtually indistinguishable and it is advisable to continue further downstream to the Cathedral Driveway Trail to continue this loop.

You climb 1000 feet in just under two miles, with the initial stretch being rather steep. Just after crossing Windy Creek, you reach a junction with the Windy Creek Trail, which climbs to the base of Windy Peak. The climb itself is fairly moderate, but it is entirely in a burned area and seems to go on forever, despite being less than five miles long and gaining around 2000 feet of elevation. It is best to get an early start on the day that you will be passing through here; the sun can be relentless and there are no appealing places to camp. Fortunately, Windy Creek provides easy access to water so staying hydrated isn’t a problem.

From the junction with the Windy Peak Trail, a few hundred feet shy of Windy Peak’s summit, you have a few choices. If you haven’t yet got your fill of lakes, you can explore by taking a left – you would then head back around to Sunny Pass (a mile south of Horseshoe Basin; you would’ve passed through on your way in) and then retrace your steps to the trailhead. If you’re wanting an absolutely breathtaking high country stroll, then take a right and enjoy unbeatable alpine walking before descending into a charming basin and eventually reaching a junction with the Clutch Creek Trail. Several decent options for camping are in the basin before reaching this junction. The Clutch Creek Trail traverses a nice sloping mountainside dotted with sagebrush before beginning a long, and sometimes overgrown, descent to cross Toats Coulee Creek before making a spirited climb back up to the trail that connects to the trailhead.

In Conclusion

All told, this approximately 60-mile loop is a challenging but exceptionally rewarding hike. While the long stretches of burned forest take their toll on the scenery, the superb alpine walking, wonderful lakes, and historic buildings more than mitigate the drudgery of hiking through burns for most of a day. The lack of permits also allows you to craft your own adventure. Doing this hike as an out-and-back to a basecamp of your choice would be a memorable hike as well, especially if you gave yourself a layover day or two to explore the nearby peaks. It should go without saying that lack of permits doesn’t mean lack of responsibility – be sure to become informed about the area and practice Leave No Trace.

Need to Know

Information

The Pasayten Wilderness has the same wilderness regulations as other wilderness areas (no motorized or mechanized equipment, limits on group size, etc.) and following Leave No Trace is important. No permits are needed, but a Northwest Forest Pass is required to park at the trailhead. Call the Methow Valley and Tonasket Ranger Districts (this loop traverses trails maintained by both) on the Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest for current information on conditions.

Getting There

From Tonasket, WA drive 16 miles to Loomis, WA. Continue from Loomis on County Road 9425, then turn left after two miles onto Forest Road 39/Toats Coulee Road. Take this road for 14 miles until you see the signed turnoff for the road leading to the Iron Gate Trailhead. This rough dirt road climbs for six miles to the trailhead. Call ahead for road conditions – sometimes most vehicles if driven carefully can negotiate it, other times you will want a high-clearance vehicle.

Best Time to Go

July and mid-summer can be a great time for wildflowers; late September or very early October for fall colors.

Maps & Books

The Green Trails maps "Horsehoe Basin" and "Coleman Peak" cover this area and are sufficient for on-trail backpacking and some off-trail navigation, however availability of these two maps can be hit or miss. For backpacking in the area you will want to take more detailed USGS topos for the area. Portions of this loop are described in the guidebooks Backpacking Washington: From Volcanic Peaks to Rainforest Valleys by Douglas Lorain & the author of this article Mark Wetherington, as well as Backpacking Washington: Overnight & Multiday Routes by Craig Romano.

Editor's Note: This article originally appeared in Issue 40 of TrailGroove Magazine. You can read the original article here for additional photos.