This accessible, high-Cascade ramble is an embarrassment of riches. You’ll pass two ponds, a once-burnt forest of firs, a sequence of meadows choked with vibrant blue lupine and red Indian paintbrush, and several creeks before arriving at the upper meadow. The front-row view of Three Fingered Jack’s craggy, stratified peaks across the vast expanse of blooms will stop you in your tracks. For an even closer look, scramble another rocky three miles to a perch overlooking a milky-green glacial lake, and then up a steep crest to a saddle on the mountain’s shoulder, where the view stretches from Mount Jefferson to the Three Sisters. 

• Northwest Forest Pass required at the trailhead

Willamette Valley

Hike

Moderate

6.5–7.5 miles