Talapus Lake is a quiet, secluded little island of water, located in the southwestern corner of the Alpine Lakes Wilderness Area. With the summit of Pratt Mountain looming a thousand feet above to the North, gathering in the view from the lake can take hours out of the day. It’s really hard to imagine that such a wonderful place is only an hour drive and an hour walk up into the Cascades. Its proximity to the Seattle Metro Area also inhibits it’s solitude, as even on a Sunday the parking lot can overfill.

A relatively easy hike by most standards, the trail to Talapus Lake is one of the southern most entry points into the Alpine Lakes Wilderness Area. As you slowly climb through the thick pine forests lining the trail, openings in the canopy provide views across the Snoqualmie Valley towards McClellan’s Butte. Small brooks, and streams meander through the forest floor next to the trail, supplying confusing sounds of nearby water. After about a half-mile worth of hiking, maintenance crews have built a small footbridge over what used to be a muddy stream used as the trail in this section.

As you near the lake, the headwaters of the Pratt River start to fill the air with that telltale hissing of a large waterfall. Numerous pools of cool melt water, provide for a nice setting to take a short break or evening stop for lunch. You may realize that your only a few hundred feet from the lake, but after a good hours hike a rest is well deserved.

After, drying off your feet and putting your hiking boots back on, continue to Follow the trail. Once you’ve reached the wilderness boundary sign, you are practically there. There are many small trails that circumnavigate the lake, so feel free to explore. But always keep in mind the impact that you might create. The delicate flora that surrounds the lake can take decades to repair what your boots trample in the few moments you visit. Many hikers and backpackers use the lake as a Base Camp, as there are several trails that traverse deep into the Alpine Lakes Wilderness that start from here.

Directions

To get to the trailhead to Talapus Lake, take I-90 out of Seattle and exit off just before Snoqualmie Pass, at exit 45. Turn left at the end of the off ramp and follow the narrow road to the north side of the highway. After traveling a half-mile up the north side of the valley, the double-lane pavement ends at as a single lane dirt road. Continue another 0.2 mile farther up this dirt lane and follow the small brown signs on the right side of the road for FS 9030. The trailhead starts at the end of this road, after another 3.2 miles of switchbacks and traffic dodging on the narrow dirt lane.