Horse Lake Mountain - Wenatchee Hiking Trails

From Wenatchee, one of the most distinguished mountains visible is Horse Lake Mountain, which also goes by the name Twin Peaks. Horse Lake Mountain is very noticeable as well from a distance with 1,360 feet of prominence. Given the location above Wenatchee, and the Columbia River, this kind of prominence is going to offer a nice viewpoint. Horse Lake Mountain also makes the Back Court List at #99. If you mountain bike, you have an additional bonus. This mountain is popular for biking up on the road and coming down on the single track trails built by the local bike community. The mountain is also popular in winter with snowshoes or skis. Access is possible most of the year thanks to Canyon Number 2 being plowed to the end of the pavement, near the trailhead/gate. In spring, the mountain is well known for its flower displays of balsam root, lupine and others. A final reason to visit is that Horse Lake Mountain is that it's far to the east, offering decent weather even when the Cascades are being hammered with rain. There are several trails up the mountain. The route described below is the road route.

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In Wenatchee, get onto Western Avenue. Follow it south until it veers right and becomes #2 Canyon Road. Follow it up the canyon for 4 miles to the end of the pavement. From here, you can park or continue another 0.7 miles on a dirt and rocky road to the gate/trailhead. The road can be sketchy in places with a regular car but is usually possible, depending on recent grading.

The road starts gradual, soon reaching nice conifer forests with grassy meadows. Then it climbs easy open ridges with occasional viewpoints. Mountain bike trails offer short-cuts but the main road is always climbing at a good rate of incline. Just below the summit the road splits traversing both directions around he summit. An obvious third option is available, a wide trail heading straight up the ridge to the top. Take it. As you reach the top, there are three summits of interest. There is a surveyed summit with a benchmark and directional benchmark, marking point 4,621. This is the first one you will reach. The actual summit is at the 4640+ contour point just NE of the surveyed summit. A final summit is lower but offers the best view, the tree-less summit at 4,586. The summit are can be done in a loop from this three-way intersection.