This short hike along a paved trail is great for stretching the legs when traveling along Highway 20. The forest you travel through is old and stately and the lake itself is rimmed by cliffs and high peaks. If you want some longer, harder hikes in the area, check out the Lake Ann, Heather Pass, and Maple Pass hikes in our hiking guidebook.
Skill: 1
Fitness: 1
Length: 2 miles roundtrip
Map: See our topo map of the Rainy Pass vicinity.
Access: Follow Highway 20 to Rainy Pass (milepost 157.5) and park in the Rainy Pass Rest Area/Picnic Area on the south side of the highway. A Northwest Forest Pass is required to park here.
Trip Instructions: From the parking area, follow Trail #740 for about 1 mile as it ascends gently through forest and wildflower meadows. At a trail junction found about half way to the lake stay left to reach Rainy Lake — the steeper right fork heads to Lake Ann and Maple Pass.
Rainy Lake from the Maple Pass Loop – a lake ringed by cliffs and high peaks.
Leave It Better Than You Found It: This should be every outdoor user’s goal. Pick up trash left by others, pull noxious weeds along your route, disperse old fire rings (they encourage more fires), throw branches over spur trails and spurs between switchbacks (make it harder to do the wrong thing than the right thing).
Important Disclaimer: Treat this information as recommendations, not gospel. Things change, conditions change, and those contributing these reports are volunteers–they may make mistakes, fail to give complete information, or may not know all the issues affecting a route. If things go wrong, you are completely responsible for yourself and your actions. If you won’t assume that responsibility, you are prohibited from using our information.
This post was originally published on 8/8/14.
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