LaCrosse Basin Way Trail

Dogs No Dogs

Features Lake · Spring · Views · Wildflowers

If you can trail run to this trail, congratulations; it is extremely rigorous. Also, you might want to slow your pace and take your time to enjoy the scenery. Watch for loose rocks, but really just keep looking around at the incredible panoramas.

There are few locations more wild and remote in Olympic National Park than the LaCrosse Basin. High above the Skokomish/Duckabush Traverse, this route crosses one of the more stunning landscapes in Washington State. Rivaled only by the Enchantments in the North Cascades, this trail and the region around it are some of the last bastions of true wilderness left in America. With elk, marmots, bear, mountain goats and wildflower-lined lakes, you would be hard pressed to find anywhere that quenches wanderlust more thoroughly than this trail.

The trail starts near Marmot Lake and heads toward Lake LaCrosse, offering short detours to Hart Lake and beyond. While this trail is just 1.2 miles in length, it will be a section of your adventure in the backcountry of Olympic that is nearly impossible to describe. Jaw-dropping views seem to appear around every corner, while the reflections off of the small creeks lining the trail provide a lush, high-alpine blanket of vegetation over the exposed ridges. While snow may stay on the trail through most of the summer, this is one of the best places to see wildflower displays.

DO NOT miss this trail if you are already backpacking in the region. The views are out of this world, the camping is impressive and the entire experience will leave your soul nourished. This is the land of Shangri-La in the Olympics; a remote stretch of high alpine bliss in the cleanest and quietest region around.

Wildflowers are plentiful in the summer months once the snow melts, while fall colors can be seen on the high alpine plants. Marmots, deer, elk and an occasional mountain goat might be spotted on this section of trail.