Cascade Creek

Cascade Creek is not a trail you stumble onto by accident. Branching off Ingalls Creek about 8 miles from the trailhead, the path climbs hard through dense forest along its namesake drainage, gaining 2,400 feet in just 2.4 miles. The turnoff from the Ingalls Creek Trail is easy to miss, and once you find it, the route grows progressively fainter. Expect blowdowns, overgrown brush, and long stretches where the tread disappears entirely.

What draws people here is access. Cascade Creek opens the door to Navaho Peak and multi-day loops connecting Ingalls Creek, Etienne Creek, and the broader Teanaway network. Experienced navigators use it as one leg of a grand circuit through some of the least-visited terrain in the Alpine Lakes Wilderness. The forest gives way to open ridgeline views near the top, and the solitude is near-total.

This is a route for hikers comfortable reading a map, following a bearing, and accepting that "trail" is a generous description. Bring a GPS device. The Ingalls Creek ford at the start can run dangerously high in spring snowmelt, so plan your timing carefully. Late summer and early fall are the sweet spot.