Wallowa Mountains Hikes
The Wallowa
Mountains are unique in the Inland Northwest — a high
glaciated, mostly granitic range, with 9,000'-high peaks,
nearly 60 alpine lakes, all protected within the 600 square
mile Eagle Cap Wilderness. The range is quite compact and
is circled by good roads leading to 25 trailheads and over
500 miles of hiking trails. In short, it's a hiker's
paradise and draws wilderness visitors from throughout the
West. With its extensive alpine area, it lends itself to
multi-night backpacking and horse packing trips — though
day hikers will find plenty of appealing routes around the
Wilderness edges. Gas and supplies are available in
Enterprise and Joseph on the north side of the range, and
in Halfway, Union, Cove and Elgin on the south and west
sides.
The Wallowa
Range has been called America's Little Switzerland or
Oregon's Alps. The mountains are the product of a granitic
intrusion — magma that pushed upward 150 million years ago.
Overlying the granite were older volcanic and sedimentary
rocks that were elevated as the range was lifted 5,000'
above the surrounding plain by faulting. Ice Age glaciers
then ground out U-shaped valleys and sculpted the alpine
peaks that we see today. Due to their high elevation, the
Wallowas receive over 100 inches of precipitation a year,
mainly as winter snow. This melting snow feeds several
major streams — the Minam River on the west side, the
Imnaha River on the east and the Eagle Creek drainages on
the south. In all, spectacular country for day hiking!
Download
(PDF, 924 KB): Location Map of Wallowa Mountains
Hikes
Download
(PDF, 818 KB): Photos of the Wallowa Mountains
Area
Though vast, the Eagle Cap Wilderness is encircled by 25
trailheads, most all easily accessible by car. In fact, the
Wallowas are so accessible they see more than 30,000
wilderness visitors a year. The number of visitors is not
the problem here, but rather their concentration.
Wilderness permit statistics show that the top 6 trailheads
in the Eagle Cap Wilderness account for over 75% of visitor
use! This concentrated use is mostly on the north side of
the range, where access roads penetrate deep into the
mountains. As a result, we’ve focused on day hikes on the
west, south and east sides of the range, where driving
access is still good, but day hikers have a better chance
of finding solitude.
Many trailheads around the Wallowas are within a mile of
the Wilderness boundary, giving day hikers access to
protected areas on 3-4 mile day hikes. Plus, those trails
that are outside, but near the Wilderness boundary, are
often closed to motorized travel.
West
Side Eagle Cap Wilderness Hikes
Despite its
name, the lower-elevation High Ridge Trail is usually
snow-free early in the season and offers a 3.4 mile ramble
(one-way) through colorful Spring wildflowers and views of
the lower Minam River valley. The Dobbin Creek Trail
features easy access to a delightful, seldom-visited stream
that is tributary to the Little Minam River. A new bridge
has improved driving access to the Squaw Creek Trail,
giving day hikers a chance to explore an intimate,
glaciated canyon and the high alpine ridges above it.
> High Ridge
Trail
> Dobbin Creek
Trail
> Squaw Creek
Trail
South
Side Eagle Cap Wilderness Hikes
Once Spring
runoff has subsided, day hikers can safely access the West
Eagle Creek Trail, a 3.5 mile trek (one-way) into a
seldom-visited alpine valley surrounded by granite peaks.
The day hike on the East Eagle Creek Trail goes nearly 4
miles into the heart of the Wilderness, through a glaciated
valley under colorful alpine ridges. Though the Summit
Point Trail only touches the Wilderness boundary, this 3.4
mile hike features spectacular alpine views, an old log
cabin and acres of blue lupine in mid-July.
> West Eagle Creek
Trail
> East Eagle Creek
Trail
> Summit Point
Trail
East
Side Eagle Cap Wilderness Hikes
One of the
easier peaks accessible to day hikers is Sugarloaf
Mountain, rising nearly 8,000' on the south boundary of the
Wilderness, with long views of the High Wallowas. Likewise,
the 3.1 mile day hike (one-way) on the Imnaha Divide Trail
leads to panoramic vistas of the Imnaha River Valley and
its alpine headwaters. The Bonny Lakes are one of the more
accessible lake basins within reach of day hikers, on a 3.6
mile trail through glaciated basalts, wildflowers in
mid-summer and wonderful alpine scenery.
> Sugarload Mountain
Hike
> Imhaha Divide
Hike
> Bonny Lakes
Trail
Clickable
map of Wallowa Mountains hikes:
Page
last updated: 12/10/14
