Wallowa Mountains, Oregon – Eagle Cap Wilderness 3 Day, 40 Mile Hike

• Hike Location – Wallowa Mountains – Eagle Cap Wilderness
• Land Administration – Wallowa National Forest
• Hike Type – Point to Point
• Fees & Permits – No fees or permits needed
• Start Trailhead – Wallowa Lake
• End Trailhead – Two Pan
• Length Of Time Hiked – 3 days
• Miles Hiked – 39
• Route Difficulty – 7.5
• Scenic Beauty – 8.5
• Solitude – 8

Maps

Here’s the caltopo map of the 3 Day Eagle Cap Wilderness Hike: 

Elevation gain/loss chart for the 3 day Wallowa Mountains hike:

Video: Wallowa Mountains, Oregon – Eagle Cap Wilderness 3 Day PNW Hike

Pre-Hike Planning Notes

If you are driving a long ways to the Wallowa Mountains for your hike, you may want to camp near the trailhead to get an early start the next day. There are plenty of paid campsites at Wallowa Lake State Park and in the variety of campgrounds in the area, but The Wallowa Mountains, outside of Joseph and Enterprise, do not offer much for those looking to do any boondocking or dispersed camping on public land. We drove up Hurricane Creek, the drainage west of Wallowa Lake, and found a few crappy spots alongside the road suitable for an overnight stay in the camper van. Tent camping would be harder here. 

Joseph and Enterprise, the two gateway towns to the Wallowa Lake area, are very touristy. The Market Place grocery store offers a decent selection, probably enough for most hikers to pick up 3 days worth of food. However, if you are in doubt, get your food at a larger grocery store on your way. 

There is plenty of parking at the Wallowa Lake trailhead. Nearly all of the license plates were Oregon or Washington, which ought to tell you what a hidden gem this place. It’s an out-of-the way place, but worth the drive. 

We hiked this route in mid July. The snow had almost entirely melted out, and the mosquitoes were terrible. A mosquito head net would be a good thing to have, and perhaps bug spray.

The system of hiking trails in the Wallowa Mountains are very good. There are trails leading up just about every valley and over every saddle, so there should be little need for off-trail bushwhacking here. Besides that, the trails seem to be pretty well maintained. We encountered very few blow downs. 

The Wallowa Mountains are not very well suited for any kind of continuous ridgewalking, or high routes. Instead, the Wallowas are a series of deep valleys separating segments of high country with huge climbs. As much as I wanted to put together a more dedicated high route here, it just wasn’t possible without climbs of 7,000ft daily. The valleys are pretty incredible here, though!

After your hike, there are showers at the Wallowa Lake State Park campground. They are for campers only, but it’s a busy park and you will likely go unnoticed. 

 

Wallowa Mountains/Eagle Cap Wilderness 3 Day Backpacking Trip (July 2021)

Day 1 – July 9th – West Fork Wallowa River, Lake Basin, Mirror Lake, Glacier Lake

Miles Hiked – 18

Sam and I left the Wallowa Lake trailhead sometime after 8am. Right away, huge pines towered above us and quickly caught our attention. The trail is wide and well beaten here as it begins a continuous climb uphill along West Fork Wallowa River.

We passed several groups of people in the first few miles. There were a lot of cars at the trailhead, but often times, the majority of these people are only hiking a few miles. We encountered a group of horseback riders, and and couple of guys who look like they had quite an adventure… one guy had blown out his show, the sole was gone. He had rigged it up with some tape the best he could, but it didn’t look like a fun walk.

The roar of the driver grows louder when we near it. Soon we get our first view of the water, and a view up the canyon. I saw a mink running across the trail, which was a cool thing to see. I’ve only seen a couple of other mink in my life. It could also have been a pine marten, but after comparing the two animals after the hike, I think it was a mink. 

At Sixmile Meadow is where the scenery really starts to get good. Across this big green meadow, the high country began to show itself. We begin to notice how green and lush our surrounding are. The mountains are steep, and heavily forested. No beetle kill here, just a healthy green wonderland. 

We hike across Sixmile Meadow and cross West Fork Wallowa River. Here, it’s only a foot deep. A beautiful scene, too. The water is a deep turquoise blue with outstanding clarity. The river here reminded me of a past hike in Glacier National Park. 

Next the trail begins to ascend towards Lake Basin. The views open up now as we gain elevation. A sea of healthy green pines cover the entire basin, up to the treeline. 

After an 1100ft climb up to the Lake Basin, we find ourselves on a flat shelf with a view of Horseshoe Lake. Very nice. The trail follows the shoreline, offering great views of this beautiful lake. 

The next segment of hiking is an enjoyable one. We hike by Lee Lake, and then Douglas Lake. The trail alternates between segments of flat ground and climbing 200ft or so. Good trail, good views.

The trail then follows the shores of Moccasin Lake as it continues up higher into Lake Basin. The crest of the Wallowa Range is now in sight, it’s peaks and ridgelines capped in patches of snow. The upper Moccasin Lake area was really beautiful!

We decided to take a short detour to check out Mirror Lake, since we are so close to it. Good views looking back down on Moccasin Lake from the saddle above Mirror Lake. 

Mirror Lake was definitely worth the side trip. This is a top notch alpine lake with outstanding scenery. The north face of Eagle Cap peak, which we’ll summit tomorrow, provides the perfect backdrop. Indeed, this will make a fine lunch spot. 

Our lunch spot along Mirror Lake was a great place to stop, for the scenery, but perhaps the worst place we’ve been so far along our hike for bugs. The mosquitoes were thick here, and we could hardly eat a snack without also eating mosquitoes. I put on my rain gear for long sleeve protection while we ate, but really, it was one of those times where you’re just constantly swatting at the air in front of your face, just to keep the bugs at bay. Slack for a few seconds, and they’re on you again. Bastards. 

We left Mirror Lake and hiked back downhill to Moccasin Lake, where we take a trail that will lead us to Glacier Pass. I really enjoyed this area here.

We hopped rocks to cross the inlet stream leading into Moccasin Lake. On the other wise, we found a nice spot along the lake with some rocks at the edge of a deep section of water. Perfect place to stop for a swim! We jumped in the water and enjoyed the brisk refreshment that comes from a dip in a freezing alpine lake. 

The trail begins climbing up to Glacier Pass steeply now along a deep ravine. There are patches of snow still lingering and a stream of water flowing downhill. 

Above the ravine, the views open up and Glacier Pass is in sight. The Eagle Cap peak begins to come into sight, just barely, over the ridge. Also in sight now along the ridgeline is Glacier Peak, and this one is much more prominent looking from this angle than Eagle Cap itself.

The view from the top of Glacier Pass initially isn’t that great. That is, until you drop down slightly from the pass, and Glacier Lake comes into view. Wow! This basin was pretty stunning. Glacier Peak provides an impressive backdrop behind the distant waters of Glacier Lake. There are multiple small islands in the lake, with a few pines trees growing on them. This reminded me of the Sawtooths in Idaho, while the mountains themselves were reminiscent of the Sierras. In other words, excellent views.

As we dropped lower in elevation from Glacier Pass, we could get a decent view of the lake from above and scope out potential campsite locations. We settled on a spot, and noticed a curious scene playing out just 40 yards away… a mountain goat kicking up a ton of dirt as he digs and rolls around. He’s probably just as annoyed with the mosquitoes as we are.

We find a spot for our tents and eat dinner, swatting mosquitoes the entire time. It was a challenge not to eat any of the mosquitoes too, there were so many swarming my face. Besides that, we enjoyed an outstanding view of Glacier Peak with a nice reflection on Glacier Lake as the sun set. 

Soon enough, we retreated to our tents, where we could be safe from the bugs. That’s always a great feeling, the moment you are able to lie down after a long day of hiking and breathe that first sigh of relief as your head hits the air mattress. About 18 miles on the day today. Tomorrow, we summit Eagle Cap peak. 

 

Day 2 – July 10th – Eagle Cap Peak, Horton pass, Frazier Pass, Minam River, Minam Lake

Miles Hiked – 10

The sunrise over Glacier Lake was a great way to start the morning. We enjoyed the same beautiful reflection of Glacier Peak over the water as we witnessed for last night’s sunset. We ate breakfast by the water and filtered our water for the morning. Sam and I had just hiked a awesome 81 mile route across Dinosaur National Monument last week, where water was often an issue (except when we rafted the Green River for 6 miles!). So all this water in the Wallowa Mountains was a luxury to us.

Today we will climb Eagle Cap peak, the second highest peak in the Wallowa Mountains. The standard route to summit Eagle Cap is along the northwest ridgeline, where there is a trail to the summit. However, we wanted to hit Glacier Lake, and so we’ll approach from the east slope below the saddle directly south of Eagle Cap. 

From camp we studied the mountainside in the upper basin and compared that to the route we have planned up it to Eagle Cap. We choose a line a begin working our way around the steep slopes above the northwest side of Glacier Lake. It’s steep and rocky, but we make it across. The reflection on Glacier Lake, and the color of the water, was incredible form this angle. 

After traversing the steep scree slope, we meet the slopes of Eagle Cap’s east face. The terrain flattens briefly, and there’s a small green meadow with colorful wildflowers. A small stream trickle through from the patches of snow lingering higher up the ridgeline. 

Now it’s a 900ft climb to the top of the ridgeline. Some mountains might be solid boulder fields now at this elevation, but here the boulders are thin enough that we are also walking in-between patches of soil. This made the going a little easier. 

Yesterday we noticed a bit of forest fire smoke rolling in, but the skies were predominantly blue. Today though, the smoke is winning. And it’s really starting to build up. Bummer, because we want that distant summit view.  

 

Towards the top of the climb, we encounter snow patches. Fortunately they weren’t incredibly steep, and we picked our line up. These snow patches are like mine fields though. Sam did punch through and posthole a couple of times, but I lucked out. We spotted a couple of Big Horn Sheep going up to the pass themselves, above us. 

At the top of the crest below Eagle Cap, the terrain becomes a very manageable walk. Not only because the boulders have mostly given way to a mostly dirt landscape, but because we’ve also stumbled upon a game trail leading up to the summit. It’s also possible that this is a social trail, perhaps from others taking a similar approach as we did from the east slopes. However, we did not see any other evidence of some sort of route up to the crest along the way… no cairns, no faint paths, nothing. 

It’s a 350ft climb up the game trail now to the summit. An easy walk. Excellent views along the ridgeline to the south, towards Glacier Peak. 

The summit of Eagle Cap (9,577′) is broad and flat, but with a big drop off on the north face. The view overlooking the Eagle Cap Wilderness to the north is massive. We spent some time here soaking up the summit views, despite the thick forest fire smoke limiting the distance. 

As soon as we began our decent down the northeast slope of Eagle Cap, we picked up on a trail. It was a steep descent down a series of switchbacks, but an easy trail to follow nonetheless. We passed a few people hiking up to the summit.

The trail we follow now will take us to Horton pass. We enjoy excellent views here as well, and we’re very much enjoying what the Wallowa Mountains have to offer thus far. Some really excellent high mountain scenery here.

At Horton Pass, we take the trail leading west/south down East Fork Eagle Creek. A series of switchbacks lead down from the summit and seem to go on for a while. The trail is rougher here though, it’s rocky and there is a tiny stream occasionally flowing through it.

At around 7,660′, we reach a small but beautiful meadow. East Fork Eagle Creek flows through it, and we stop here to filter some water. It’s a beautiful spot, lush and green, lots of colorful wildflowers.

We continue downhill along the trail, which now is a bit more of a solid path. The hiking is easier now and we’re finding the walk to be quite enjoyable. It’s another heavily forest valley filled with healthy pines. I have grown accustomed to the beetle kill in the Rockies, but that seems to be much less of an issue here. 

We leave the trail around the 7,425′ mark and begin contouring around the mountainside over to Frazier Pass. This will save us 2 miles and 900ft of elevation loss/gain, but we’ll have to traverse some steep slopes. We cross a creek and enter what looks to be easy-going grassy slopes. However, the grass hides a multitude of rocks to trip over and twist an ankle. Some sections of the slope were quite steep, but we could have easily dropped downhill to cope. We just didn’t want to lose any elevation.

Eventually we regained the trail leading up to Frazier Pass. It’s patchy pine forest here, and the path leads up a dusty ravine. The steepest section is right before the top.

Frazier Pass itself didn’t really offer a view, there were just too many trees. We began the descent down the west side of Frazier Pass. The trail here is really dusty, with that finer dirt that gets over everything and into your shoes so easily. The forest is thick here, and more downed trees than pretty much anywhere else we’ve been so far in the Wallowas. For a moment, I felt like I was back on the CDT. Still, the blowdowns had been cleared from the trial mostly, and wasn’t an issue.

At the bottom of the descent we reach Minam River. This is the upper reaches of the river, though, and it’s pretty small here. We hop rocks across and enter a big, green valley with many wildflowers. 

The hike along Minam River just north of Frazier Pass was excellent. At first, the view of the valley is simply “pleasant”. However, as we progressed up the valley towards Minam Lake, the scenery became incredible. What an amazing valley to walk through. Peak 8543′ is the high point along the ridge, which rises sharply nearly 2000′ from the valley floor. There are many colorful wildflowers here as well. 

The trail below Minam Lake passes through trees, and obscures the view. That is, until the trees break and we get our first view of Minam Lake. It’s nice, but nothing like Glacier Lake or Mirror Lake. Minam Lake is at 7373′ elevation, and although some lakes at this elevation are quite impressive, this really isn’t one of them. The backdrop of the mountains are less impressive, heavily forested and more rolling hills than the imposing mountain peaks and rock faces we like to see surrounding an alpine lake. 

One interesting feature of Minam Lake is that it basically sits on top of a saddle separating two valleys. The south side of the lake drains out and forms Minam River, while the north side drains out and forms Lostine River. It’s a strange feeling to hike up a valley, get to this lake at the top, and descend down another river valley. Typically, these high lakes are nestled in the upper basins, and only flow into ONE valley. 

The hike around the east shore of Minam Lake mostly stays away from the shoreline, and slightly elevated. We’re looking for a place to camp now, but we’re really not seeing much.

We hike down to the southern end of the lake, and the views are better. We find a nice campsite along the lake, with good protection from the trees. This will do.

We had a few hours of sunlight left today, and enjoyed our time along the lake. We soak our feet in the water and soak up the views. The sunlight fades and another great day in the Wallowa Mountains is behind us. 

 

Day 3 – July 11th – Minam Lake, Lostine River

Miles Hiked  – 11

After leaving camp, we cross a network of braided streams below Minam Lake’s outlet. It’s clear animals like this area, too. There were many tracks and piles of scat here. We could hear animals moving around near the lake last night, too. We have seen no signs of bear though along our hike in the Wallowa Mountains, which always seems to be the question a hiker is asked. 

We’re now hiking along Lostine Creek as we leave Minam Lake. The valley is deep, and it seems to take forever for the sun rays to reach us. The forest fire smoke hasn’t built up yet for the day, and bluebird skies prevail. The upper section of Lostine River was nice, before it drops down into the forest.

The trail enters a thick forest, drops 400ft and Copper Creek pours into Lostine River. Many streams will pour into the Lostine as we drop down lower into the valley. We watch the river grow as the trail descends. It’s a 2200′ descent for us. and it’s a real knee buster to begin the day like this. 

Lostine River continues to grow in size, and with the steep grades, is now whitewater. The roar of the river is nice to hear. Big pines, stray rays of sunlight finding their way down to the forest floor. It’s a really pleasant walk.  

We reach Two Pan Trailhead, which has plenty of cars parked here. We really didn’t see that many people though, both along Lostine River/Minam Lake and in general throughout our Eagle Caps Wilderness hike. We kept walking down hill, passing Shady Campground, French Camp Picnic Area, before getting a hitch near the Lillyville Picnic Area. 

When we reached WHY 82 in the small town of Lostine, our ride was going north, and we need to go south. So, we stuck out our thumbs again and within 15 minutes, got our ride. She was a local on the way into Joseph to get groceries, but ended up driving us all the way up to the Wallowa Lake trailhead, where my van is parked. 

The Wallowa Mountains were awesome. I was very impressed with the scenery here. Despite the trails being good, it’s hard hiking. There is a lot of elevation gain needed to see the high country here. Otherwise, it’s all valley walks, which is still pretty nice. I would love to return to the Wallowa Mountains, and do a longer backpacking trip in the Eagle Caps Wilderness. Someday!