Hike the Lakes Trail Loop

The Lakes Trail Loop can be accessed two ways. You can either start in Paradise and find one of the multiple points along the Skyline Trail or you can begin at Reflection Lake.

My recommendation for a nice day hike is to begin at Reflection Lake. If you arrive by 8am you should have an easy time finding a parking space. Even better, if you show up for sunrise you will find yourself able to enjoy the calm water of Reflection Lake, improve your chances at seeing wildlife, and watch the colors and shadows dance along Tahoma.

From there you can either head left or right to begin the mostly uphill, 5 mile loop. Along the way you'll experience various viewpoints of Tahoma, find yourself among hundreds of pines and evergreens that give off a laundry-like aromatic experience, and walk along lush wildflowers in the summer or changing colors of the season during autumn.

Take a snack break at Paradise before the journey down the 2nd half of the loop. Finishing up at Reflection Lake offers a terrific lunch spot, but more importantly keeps you in a terrific position to consider other excellent moderate hikes in the area without having to worry about parking if you're feeling up to it.