Trail Notes: It was very cold and windy near the lake. The lake was frozen solid. We came back to a place with a little less wind and had lunch, then came back down.
Directions: From Seattle drive east on I-90 and get off at Exit 47. Go right for .1 mile on Forest Road 55, and then left onto Forest Service Road 5590. Continue about .3 mile to the trailhead and parking lot, elevation 1,900 feet.
Trail Notes: Annette lake is a nice easy hike one can take. I would put it on par with a hike to Snow Lake, or Olallie Lake. It isn't what I would consider difficult or anything like that. The trail starts out in the parking lot and gradually gains elevations for the first 20-30 minutes through mostly second growth trees though some old growth is present too - an odd sight with the sounds of I-90 in the background.
At this point you come out onto a road which is the old railroad grade now called the Iron Horse trail though it looks like a road to me. If I was going to do the Iron Horse (which I am not) it would be by bike. At any rate from here the Annette lake trail picks up some steam and gets a little steeper, which is the grade the trail keeps until it reaches its traverse elevation in about 45-60 minutes. During this time the sounds of I-90 fade away and the trees get more forest like. All along the grade of the trail is pleasant and scenery entertaining for the most part and if you want you can always strike up a conversation with someone on the trail. There really aren't any views to speak of until you reach the traverse and can look out the avalanche chutes across the valley to the South.
Once the trail begins to flatten out you are on the traverse which lasts for about 20-30 minutes. During this time the trail undulates and moves into and out of forest where avalanches have denuded the slope. One should take care crossing these chutes when snow is present. In some conditions there is clearly an avalanche hazard, though when I did it the danger was mostly of losing your footing and sliding several hundred feet down the 45 degree slope into the rocks at the bottom. If you feel like you shouldn't cross the chutes don’t.
I did feel like crossing the chutes and found the rest of the hike covered with snow as well. Being May I would have expected it to have been warmer but it was actually quite cold. Cold enough that after having my lunch at the lake and taking in the view of Silver Peak above, I packed it in and returned. That and since Carl turned around a while ago I thought it best to get on my way and figure out where he went.
As others have said this hike it heavily used so don't expect solitude on this one. Over the course of doing this hike I probably ran into 20 people going up and down. Overall this is a nice hike but clearly isn't in the great category. Still if you are in the mood for an easy hike within striking distance of Seattle you could do worse than Annette Lake.
My first hike(on Annette)was in end of August,Begining and end 30 minuts is easy but midle goes 40-50 degrise.Nice trail for wildenes camping with lot of room to acomodate biger group off 5-6 poeple.there is rasbery and bluebary, I just tasted and left for bears.
Went back to Annette Lack on June 2nd six months to the day after my previous unsuccessful trip. We didn't get stuck in a ditch this time instead found a full parking lot. The hike was uneventful. Lots of switchbacks in dense forest. At about the hour point we got to the point where we had turned around about the third slide area. About a half hour later we found our way to the lake. I can see why I turned around this winter because the path does get hard to follow. I would be able to guess where the pather was if I went back in theis winter but without makings on the trees it would be hard for anyone that hadn't been on the path before to find a path in the winter. The lake was kind of dissappointing with all the pollen on the lake and the hazy views. The hike all in the forest and not too many flowers. The campsites at the lake looked nice but there are many more hikes that are much more rewarding around this area.
I tried to snowshoe this trail between Christmas and new years 2006. I agree with everything that was written in the intro statement. The beginning of the hike is not to exciting. I Hiked for a good hour and fourty five minutes until I reached the slopes that look to have been cleared by past avalanches. This kind of freaked me out. The snowshoe path that I was following disappeared by the third avalanche chute. This is where I too turned around because I could no longer see a definitive trail on the other side and I really didn't know where I was going. I wish I could have made it to the lake but the lack of trail was disappointing and the vast amount to snow and darkening sky was a little too much. Don't really recommend this trail in the winter due to the lack of trail markings and the scary avalanche danger towards the end.
We just did Annette Lake Sunday afternoon. We had thought about Melakwa and Snow Lake but the ranger said there was still a lot of snow at both locations and recommended Annette instead. The hike was nice on an 80+ deg day. There were dozens of overnighters hiking down while we were going up. There was just a touch of snow at the top and the lake was refreshingly chilly. We enjoyed a light lunch and a nap before heading back down. There are lots of water crossings where you can dip a hand in to cool off.
May - still snowy.
We choose the trail since many reviews say this treil melts earlier then others in the area. Well, right. About 2 miles (out of 4) were quite dry already. However, it is still quite snowy. Snow fileds in places and last half a mile is completely covered with snow. Lake is covered with ice and snow yet. Very nice view, but definitly not "for picnic". Bottom line - in May it is a good hike, but you better have have hicking shoes and polls. Can be tough for kids.
Annette Lake has the virtue of being close, but the trail is dull, the lake is not very scenic, the water is inconvenient to access!
In all frankness, Annette Lake wont be THE Alpine lake of your life, but it's still a pretty nice place to sit on your haunches and enjoy the peace lapping of water. We hiked this early July and the weather that day was especially sunny with a nice cool breeze. Weather will make or break this hike and views, try to make the trek on a nice clear day, it will make the lakeside visit more enjoyable. The trail takes a while to start its ascent, but once the uphill swing begins, it is a moderate, but steady climb until it levels off to a slight downward hike to the lake. It was a tad infested of gnats swarming in buggy tornados, so I would highly recommend tossing in some repellent into your pack. We stayed at the lake nearly an hour, just lounging by its edge and skipping rocks, and didnt know where the time went. It is not the prettiest lake I've seen in WA, but I enjoyed it very much. We started too late and ended up having to high-tail it down through a darkening trail, but the trail seemed very busy earlier in the day with lots of foot and paw traffic both.
This hike was pleasant and mostly as described. It took us 2 ½ hours to walk in, and 2 hours to walk out. The 1500 foot elevation gain seemed like twice that, and most of it was like a 4 mile 2 hour session on a Stairmaster. It seemed to go up forever. We encountered about 20 groups of hikers and dogs – maybe 50 people - between 10:00 AM and 3:00 PM on a Sunday. One returning group said they stayed exactly one minute at the lake because the bugs were so bad. The clouds of bugs at the lake were 99% flies, and were more of an irritant than a real problem. There were no bugs at the parking lot, but they started to get bad about half way up. The best way to avoid them was to keep moving. Don’t bother with bug spray – they were drinking it and enjoying it ! The trail was well maintained, and there were several streams crossing the trail for water. I enjoyed a cool swim in the shallow lake after the hot hike in. Just short of our return to the parking lot, a well-placed Coors was waiting for us in the ice cold water of the first stream crossing. That felt great after a hot buggy day on the trail !
This is a pretty easy hike to a very scenic lake that is perfect to take a dip and cool down once it is reached. It is for a majority in nice shade, with trails that aren't much danger to your ankles. Be wary of a huge number of bugs during summertime, as the lake is surrounded by trees and not a boulder field!
This is a great hike either for training for a more difficult climb, or taking [older] kids and/or canines. Very manageable; nice spots in/out of the sun for a rest before the hike back down. Plenty of water for dogs. On a hot summer day, this is a nice option since most of the hike is shaded by trees. Recommend early start to avoid rush of hikers that start later in day.
This was a mid-week hike for me last September. Under those circumstances the the trail was nearly deserted, I ran into only two other parties. My recollection of this hike is how green & mossy it was along parts of the trail. The lake itself is quite small, which on this day was also a very deep green. Along the lake there are a few spots for picnicking, and as a previous reviewer said, a jacket was necessary while taking a snack break atop a rock by the lake. I was slightly disappointed by Annette Lake itself, mostly because I was expecting something a little larger, but if you're happy with that I generally recommend it for a moderate day hike.
We just went on this trail (March 13th) and it is probably not the best time to go. We went because the mountains have been unusually dry this year. There was very little snow until we got near to the lake. The hike was moderately difficult because of all the rocks on the trail. I kept twisting my ankles, and our friend's dog sprained his ankle on the way down. It took forever (like 3.5 hrs) just to get up to the lake. When we got there, it was nice, but nothing spectacular...basically a frozen lake. However, it was nice to have the dogs off-leash. I don't know if the trail is officially off-leash, but the dogs are well behaved and did well.
I just did Annette Lake in mid-September, and it's a very peaceful hike which can be easily completed in under 4 hours. The winds make the lakeside pretty cool so bring an extra fleece or light jacket so you can hang around and enjoy the lake and waterfalls. Two sights make this three star versus two. The first is a picture perfect wooden bridge and roaring waterfall in the first 10 minutes of the hike. The second is the lake itself with surrounding alpine waterfalls. Bring binoculars, there are lots of little falls with large drops to view.
