Cougar Lake and Little Cougar Lake Trail is a 11.5 mile lightly trafficked out and back trail located near Naches, Washington that features a lake and is rated as moderate. The trail offers a number of activity options and is best used from June until October. Dogs are also able to use this trail but must be kept on leash.
A federal Northwest Forest Pass is required to park here
Wenatchee National Forest Naches Ranger Station 10237 Highway 12 Naches, WA 98937 Tel: 509.653.2205
From Yakima, drive west on Highway 410 to Bumping Lake Road (Forest Service Road 1800). Turn left and drive 17 miles to the trailhead at the end of the road.
July 28, 2019Reallly nice hike. Not to hard compared to some I've done. On the way up you come across Swamp lake. This lake is a great lake to fish. Cougar lake has fish too, but majority had worms. Lots of animals and birds to see. We seen elk, deer, and everyone's favorite bear. Lots of people horse packing in. Honestly thinking of doing this the next time I go. It is a hike I want to do again, only I want to stay longer.
July 24, 2019Views at the lake are outstanding. Deet/permethrin treated clothing a must as the mosquitos are out in force this time of year. Hiked the connector boot trail over to the PCT as an extra. Go on a sunny day so you can enjoy the views.
October 22, 2018Went 08/18. The trail was very easy and beautiful. We camped by the smaller lake, freeeeezzing at night.
October 3, 2016Wonderful hike with some amazing views, bugled with a couple bull elk on the way up to swamp lake, took us 5hrs to hike in, found a great camp on the big cougar lake overlooking the beach, elk bugled from 8pm to 5am, was a great night! Took a short three hour hike Sunday morning up into the bowl above the lakes got some great views and could even see a little portion of bumping lake way in the background from up there. Was a 4hr hike out and only seen one other person at cougar lake and he was on horseback having lunch then riding back out, we were the only ones up there for the night, one of the most beautiful places I have been for sure!
September 15, 2015
First to ReviewThis is an amazing trial that is much longer than most reviews. We started from Swamp Lake Trail (970) and then we took trail 958 towards the lake, it becomes 958a shortly after. It took 4hrs to get to the Cougar Lakes. There is some nice spots for camping. We stayed 2 nights and during that time we saw a few more campers and hikers. Also on the Ridge we saw some elk, this was in the month of July.
August 23, 2020September 21, 2019August 30, 2019August 10, 2019June 14, 2019May 26, 2019August 8, 2018November 10, 2013
