Horse Lake Reserve - hillsides of wildflowers

Upper elevations of the Horse Lake Reserve meander through wildflowers patches and big fir trees, plus views of the Cascade mountains and the Wenatchee River Valley from the river confluence to the Enchantments (weather dependent).

We will take the same one-way route that we did 5/12/2022. You can see pictures from our 2022 trip HERE. The stats for this one-way route: ~9.5 mi, ~900’ gain with the added bonus of 2/3 of the route being primarily downhill 😃.

This one-way route requires a car shuttle but it’s only a 5 mile roundtrip shuttle. For the shuttle, we will all meet at the Horse Lake TH, as noted on the Meetup announcement. Then, 2 vehicles with 2 drivers will drive 2.4 miles to the Balsamroot TH, leave 1 vehicle there and return to the rest of the group waiting at the Horse Lake TH. Easy Peasy 😘!

Here's our GPS track from 2022 - https://www.gaiagps.com/datasummary/track/24b163dd3cdbceb43f95192b6a0dbf18dd799e70/
▫ (You can download this route to your own GPS device using this link to access the GPX file.)
Here's an overview picture of our starting and ending locations (click).

Additional location info -
https://www.cdlandtrust.org/trails-access/trails/wenatchee-foothills-trails/horse-lake-trails

• ~9.5 miles, ~900’ gain, highest elevation ~2400’
• Difficulty – moderate, but there are some steep uphill sections with switchbacks
• Pace – social pace for picture taking, 1.5-2.0 mph (average)
• This is a multi-use trail (hiking, biking, horses)
• No pass required at the TH
• Vault toilet available at the TH
• Unfavorable weather conditions will cause cancellation
• Trail is narrow in some places. Recommend hiking poles for better balance when passing mountain bikers or other hikers.
• Most of this route is downhill. Recommend hiking poles.
• Weather forecast – https://forecast.weather.gov/MapClick.php?lon=-120.39568519277964&lat=47.452608521286436#.YJCcC7VKhPY
• There may be mud and/or dust … weather dependent. Be prepared!
• Carpooling is encouraged. I, myself, will need a ride 😁
• Optional - After the hike, please join us for dinner in Wenatchee. McGlinns Public House is a good choice for our dinner stop. Check it out, I think there's something for everyone - https://www.mcglinns.com/

More driving instructions for Horse Lake Reserve Trailhead: From the intersection of Wenatchee Avenue and Horselake Road at the north end of Wenatchee, drive west (uphill) on Horselake Road. Follow the road for one mile (please drive slow and be respectful of the residential neighborhoods); the pavement ends where the Balsamroot trail access parking is.

Past the Balsamroot parking area: Continue to drive another 2.4 miles up the primitive portion of Horselake Road and park in the parking lot on the right, or just past there along the side of the road if the parking lot is full. The gravel road to the trailhead has tight switchbacks, is prone to washboard, and can be dangerous in wet weather – please use caution and drive carefully (watch out for bicyclists!).