Rachel Lake

The hike to Rachel Lake (via the Rachel Lake Trail near the Lake Kachess Campground) is a bit more interesting than the lake itself. After a brief series of switchbacks, you find yourself in a relatively-​flat forest trail with a ton of flora, some stream/​creek crossings, and a garter snake or two (or five in my case). Just when you start thinking it’s too easy, you start heading up a steep incline, stepping over exposed roots and rocks for footing. This incline is relentless, continuing for the last two miles or so, and makes for a hell of a time for your knees on the return trip.
When you arrive at the lake, it’s best to keep expectations low. It’s fairly small, and not the ultra-​isolated, let’s-get-naked-and-swim spot you might be imagining. The reward is pretty low for the effort you’ll end up putting in to get here. That said, if you’re up for another three miles (round trip), you can immediately continue on to the Rampart Lakes. But you might still be underwhelmed — and you’d have just wasted another three miles’ worth of time out of your life. Maybe just call it a day and go eat hot dogs.

Rachel Lake is a gem in the Snoqualmie region. The lake is beautiful but the trek to reach it isn’t as easy as I thought it would be. Good effort comes with great reward!
Difficulty: Moderate for me
Length: WTA states that it’s 8 miles round trip but the sign at the trail head states that it is actually 9.6 miles round trip.
Elevation Gain: WTA states that it’s 1600 ft but the sign at the trail head states that it is 2000 ft.
Time: 2 hours up. 1.5 hours down.
Drive: About 1.5 hours from Seattle. Exit 62 on I-​90 East, look for the «Kachess Lake» sign. The last 3 miles to the trail head parking lot was all gravel with many small pot holes.
Parking: Abundance of parking spaces. Various of parking lots for this hike. Various trails that pass up Rachel Lake (Lila Lake, Rampart Lakes and Alta Mountain). Come early as this is an extremely popular trail. I arrived around 9:30 am on a Friday morning and the parking lot was almost full. When I left around 2pm, the parking lot was beyond full.
Trail: The trail starts off with a gradual mild incline for the first .5 mile. For the next 2 – 2.5 miles the trail remains pretty flat. You will pass by many small stream crossings. A majority of the beginning is shaded. There are some parts where the pathway are very narrow with an abundance of tall overgrowth. I felt like I was bushwhacking. Various of beautiful small waterfalls to pass.
About 2.5−3 miles into the hike, the trail starts to incline dramatically. For the next 1.5−2 miles, the trail becomes very rough, rocky and rooty with a moderate to severe grade incline. I had to take lots of breaks. Even though it was very steep in the end, its still only less than 2 miles of steepness.
Bugs: Annoying. So many flies and mosquitoes! Bring bug spray.
We arrived on a sunny day, about 90°. The hot weather made the hike a little harder. The sun highlighted the beautiful blue pristine water. Even though it was scorching hot, the lake water was still freezing! None the less, it felt amazing cooling off in the cold glacier water.
We passed by over 60 people as we were heading down to the parking lot.
*Northwest Forest Pass required*

I seem to end up on this trail once a year. It’s an easily accessible I-​90 hike, and in my opinion the views are nicer than other trails like Mason Lake and Denny Creek. The parking lot isn’t huge so it can fill up early during peak season, leaving other people to parking along the street. There is an outhouse in the parking lot.
The trail to Rachel Lake is frustrating. The first 2 miles or so is flat and mostly boring, and then it goes steeply upwards with sections through a rooty creekbed that can be slippery when wet. There are also a fair number of social trails you can end up on. They’ll all get you to where you eventually need to go, but some might be harder routes than others. The gain here is probably about 1200 feet, but it feels much worse. There’s more to see along this portion, with waterfalls and views of Hibox Mountain.
The lake itself is pretty, especially before mid-​afternoon. Water color ranging from turquoise to deep blue. There’s a bit of room to spread out around the lake, and there are also a number of campsites and a pit toilet.
From there, the trail climbs up to Rampart Ridge. Even though it’s steep, it feels much easier than the rooty section of the Rachel Lake trail, and there are nice views down to the lake to distract from the pain. At the top, there are multiple options: Lila Lakes, Rampart Lakes, Alta Mountain summit, or all of the above. Many nice campsites and fewer people, too.
Overall, I highly recommend this hike for people who will go past Rachel Lake to Rampart Ridge for some of the best views off of I-​90.

A spectacular summer hike and campsite, an adventurous winter one.
Finding the trail head is sometimes tricky, but worth the effort. There is water at the base campgrounds, as well as a place to pitch your tent. Or people will wilderness camp at the top (which I recommend) at Rachel Lake amidst stunning views of the Cascades.
The trail up to Rachel lake from the base is a semi-​strenuous 5 mile hike. It is not difficult until the last couple miles in which most all of the elevation is gained and trail gets a bit hairy…
but the climb is well worth it from the top, where a breath taking alpine lake awaits. and a few miles past a few more you can hike out to.
Directions:
From Seattle take I-​90 East to Exit 62. Turn left at the Stop onto Kachess Lake Road #49 and follow it for about 5.2 miles to the T junction. Turn left onto gravel Road # 4930. Trailhead is in 4 miles on the right side of the road.