Mirror Lake to Eagle Cap is a 19.6 mile lightly trafficked out and back trail located near Enterprise, Oregon that features a lake and is rated as difficult. The trail is primarily used for hiking, camping, and backpacking and is best used from June until October. Dogs are also able to use this trail but must be kept on leash.
September 5, 2020One of my favorite places to backpack and do day hikes once I'm in. Backpacked in the first day, hiked up Eagle Cap and took the Lakes Basin Trail (phone died omw back from Horseshoe Lake, but I got East Fork to Lakes Basin verified, anyway, so w/e) the second day, and backpacked out the third day. Went back and forth from my campsite to the water falls between Upper Lake and Mirror Lake for water. The trail up to Eagle Cap doesn't match what AllTrails shows on the ridge. The actual trail across the ridge (at least the one that everyone seemed to be using) is on the side opposite of Mirror Lake. There was one part on the ridge that was a little sketchy. It was fine going up, but going down, I had to hand my poles to someone so that I could scramble across. Really fun, in any case!
August 15, 2020Great mountain
August 11, 2020August 9, 2020Love this hike. Worst part is the drive there. I went on Labor day weekend and the area around the lake was pretty busy. People who had parked at a variety of trailheads end up camping here. A lot of people camp near the lake even though it isn't allowed.
August 7, 2020I’d give it six stars for the scenery if I could, but minus at least three stars for the crowds. We made a loop up West Lostine, camped at Minam Lake then Mirror Lake, and took a day hike to Eagle Cap, returning down East Lostine, about a 20mi loop all told. There are a lot of hikes on Alltrails starting from this parking lot that overlap; be sure to check reviews of other trails in the region for a complete picture. On the weekend of 8/7/2020, The already-enormous Two Pan parking lot was full & cars were parked almost half a mile up the road. We estimated we saw more than 100 other hikers & backpackers over the weekend, and at least five horse trains. A hustle for campsites made every day feel like a race. We managed to find good campsites but they had all the intimacy of car camping. The Lostine trails have been thrashed by heavy horse traffic, especially around stream crossings. By August the bugs are manageable. Definitely worth taking the side trip to Eagle Cap! Fantastic views, fantastic wildflowers, not too challenging. No snow to speak of by August. A strong runner could go from Two Pans to Eagle Cap and back in one day. Trails throughout the region are well-marked and well-maintained. I would rate the difficulty as “EASY,” definitely not “difficult.” We barely looked at the map the whole time. We navigated *one* blowdown all weekend, by stepping over it. Our three kids — the youngest was seven — did the whole weekend easily with full packs; an adult in our party with an injured hip managed just fine. The climbing is steep sometimes but about as difficult as walking up stairs.
August 2, 2020We did this 2 days ago! Mirror Lake to Eagle Cap. Trail is in great shape. There is a bit of snow on some sections (maybe 15% of the trail) but it was soft and easy to do in hiking boots. I brought my microspikes, but didn’t use them. Hiking poles are good. Views were outstanding , and totally worth the trip to the top
July 29, 2020Hiked 7/25. Smooth sailing to Mirror Lake, then snowy up to Eagle Cap. The snow was easy to cross with poles but made navigation tricky.
July 29, 2020Mostly snow free. Lots of mosquitoes at lake shore. Much more liveable on heights. Early AM start made hike up Eagle Cap scenic and pleasant as backside mostly shaded. Flowers peakimg.
July 25, 2020Did trail in 3 parts - up to mirror, Eagle cap, and back down to two pan. Our milage was very different than AllTrails. We clocked 9.3 miles up to mirror and 8.0 back down. Trail is very buggy especially through the meadow but really everywhere. 99% deet allowed us to hike without being bitten too much. Camp was crowded by mid week. We summited Eagle Cap - lots of snow and hard to find trail (AllTrails helped immensely!) and we ended up making our own path a few times and scrambling up the side of the mountain but it was very doable. Would suggest trekking poles. All in all a fabulous hike and beautiful scenery.
July 18, 2020Did this on 7/11- runnable to the lake, but a good amount of snow in the last mile.
July 13, 20201662 is an incredible trail- The original plan was to hike to Mirror Lake from the Two Pan Trailhead, but due to leaving later than planned we ended up turning back at about 6.5 miles in. We made it back to camp just before 7:30pm, and spent the rest of the evening/night dreaming about the beautiful wilderness that we had just experienced. It’s quite amazing and pictures simply don’t do it justice. Negatives: 1)The meadows are captivating, but they’re swarming with mosquitoes . 2)There’s still quite a bit more snow on the trail than we had imagined possible for July, which means our feet eventually got wet (and blistered). Positives: Too many to positives to list! Words cannot describe the beauty of the Eagle Cap Wilderness. Go adventure it and enjoy it! Take in the majestic mountains and clean fresh air and soak your feet in the ice cold water if you have time!
June 27, 2020Beautiful hike on 6/27/2020. We saw a bear and two elk along with bear scat, cougar and bear tracks. We made it to the edge of the meadow after post-holing through snow. We couldn’t go further to Mirror Lake because of too much snow and swampy meadow. In talking with other hikers in and out, they said it would be much better after another week. So, get your gear ready and head to the trail anytime after June.
June 22, 2020It was a beautiful trail. We only made it as far as the second bridge because of the snow. The bridge in the meadow is broken, half of it is leaning down toward the river. It is passable, if you're careful. We didn't see any wildlife other than birds and ground squirrels. The hike up in the snow was killer. Snowshoes would have been helpful. We will try again after the snowmelt. It melted a considerable amount over the two night we were out there. Original plan: Day 1- Hike East Fork Lake Trail to Mirror Lake, stay overnight. Day 2- hike to Eagle Cap, stay over at Mirror Lake again. Day 3- Hike to Minam Lake, stay overnight. Day 4- Hike out on Minam Lake Trail. What really happened: Hiked about 3 miles day 1 up all the steep hills. Right after the first bridge, there was snow all the way up! We started hiking midday, so we were potholing most of the way up! Day 2: Hike another 2 miles (post holing) to the second bridge. We decided to stay there, right before the bridge that night. There was a 50% chance thunder storms, and we were exhausted. We decided to hike out Day 3.
March 15, 2020This hike is so complete in overwhelming you. I highly recommend. Took my dog and my brother, almost didn’t leave
September 22, 2019Absolutely loved this trail!! Was a pretty simple trail, just long! We decided to stop once at mirror lake so we could explore around the lake and really enjoy the views. Trail wasn’t very crowded which was nice! Will definitely be back and plan to camp here next time.
September 22, 2019Just tracking from Mirror lake to the summit, as I approached Mirror Lake from the West Wallowa River trail and Lake Basin. fantastic hike. a little more snow than I expected for mid September (the last 2 miles were covered, more significantly the last mile). Luckily a few people had summited in the past week so I was able to follow their path, without any snowshoes or special snow gear. I definitely got snow in my boots, but nothing that the views didn't make up for.
September 20, 2019September 17, 2019Stunning ... I checked bridge out as it was partially out... still crossable on the beam... as of a couple of days ago the stream was super low anyways... bridge not even necessary. It was reported to me by another hiker that a cougar was spotted in the Meadows around the said bridge. Easy to follow trail to the lake itself. I personally had a bit of difficulty finding the trail to the Eagle cap summit ... but did a minor bit of scrambling up and easily spotted the REAL trail. Sadly I didn't have time to reach the summit as I was day hiking and had a late start.
September 14, 2019Great first backpacking trip.
September 9, 2019What a dang majestic backpacking trip. Just like all the rest of the reviews state, well worth a trip out to this trail as it does not disappoint in the least. Trail is in good condition all the way up and will for sure be returning to Eagle Cap
July 28, 2019Amazing hike. Lower trail was in good condition. More snow then I was expecting going up to Eagle Cap from Mirror lake. Headed to Horton pass to hit snow free ridge line sooner. Turned around before summit because it was getting late in the day. Lots of mosquitoes.
June 27, 2019completed trip June 21st weekend. Snow past 1.5 miles. Once we hit the valley we had a hard time finding places to camp because of snow and wet damp ground but we made it happen! Great time and great views. Saw wolf print! Would go again! Mirror is still frozen.
