The two-and-a-half hour drive, after three hours of hiking up what seemed like stairs without steps and walking through smoke, my crew of two and I finally arrived at the breathtaking views of the Stevens Lakes.
The entire time we were surrounded by gorgeous views of mountains while we walked through huckleberry bushes, wildflowers, granite slides, shady forests and waterfall crossings before we arrived at the blue alpine lake.
Stevens Lakes, located near Mullan, Idaho, is comprised of the smaller upper lake and the larger lower lake. The five mile out-and-back trail is very steep, with a 1,845 foot elevation gain one way to reach about 5,600 feet above sea level.
To get to the trail I used Google Maps, but it only took me to the beginning of a dirt road that led to the trailhead, which has plenty of parking and an outhouse.
I would not recommend taking a low car due to ruts in the road being deep, but anything that sits high up off the ground would be fine to drive through with.
I originally dragged my friends along this hike because it was one of the closer alpine lake hikes near Moscow that wasn’t more than five miles. I thought it could be done easily, particularly for beginner hikers, but I stood corrected by the time we got halfway up the trail.
The trail began with what could have passed as an ATV road, then narrowed and switched between hiking through coniferous trees, meadows of wildflowers and granite rock slides. At various points along the trail we saw waterfalls, and about halfway up the trail, crossed just under one.
We used the widened trail at the crossing to refill water bottles, cool off from the July heat and eat a little snack to replenish our energy before continuing up the mountain. And, of course, the waterfall made the perfect spot to stop and snag a few photos before we arrived at the lakes.
Once we started getting closer to the lakes there were a few large campsites with room for tents and fire rings lining the trail. The end of the trail to the lower lake opened up into a few similar campsites, which were being used by fellow hikers when we got there.
While my friends and I didn’t look to make the trek to the upper Stevens Lake, we ran into a few hikers who had and told us they couldn’t find the trail to it. After doing a little searching online they were not the only ones who had that issue, so I took to a hiking group on Facebook to find the answers I wanted for my next trip.
“The trail to the upper trail is a little further around the top of the first lake than most people realize,” a member of the Hiking North Idaho Facebook group said in a comment. “There are false trails at the beginning from people trying to find it. Please take time to look for it rather than making your own.”
Looking for the trail to the upper lake was not the only time hikers had gotten their trails mixed up.
While my group was hiking through the second rock slide, there were two trails hidden in the rocks and the first we followed trickled into nothing as it took us straight across the slide. We lost the trail and backtracked to find a stack of rocks we didn’t see before, marking the trail up the slide.
Despite getting lost, the hot weather, the wildfire smoke and taking on a trail nearly too tough for my hiking companions, this trail was a blast. That may seem like a lot of negatives, but many of them are side effects of Idaho summers and are inevitable during much of the late season.
The scenery and challenge made the Stevens Lakes trail a fantastic short trip for hikers who are a little more experienced and know what they are getting into. It’s close enough to Moscow for a weekend overnighter or an all-day trip, but far enough away that you can still access the rugged mountains many hikers come to the Pacific Northwest for.
I would rate this trail an 8/10.
Anteia McCollum can be reached at [email protected]