Yellow Aster Butte Trail is a 6.8 mile moderately trafficked out and back trail located near Deming, Washington that features a lake and is rated as moderate. The trail is primarily used for hiking, walking, nature trips, and bird watching and is best used from July until October. Dogs are also able to use this trail but must be kept on leash.
dogs on leash
hiking
nature trips
walking
bird watching
forest
lake
views
wild flowers
wildlife
snow
Directions from Glacier: Follow the Mt. Baker Hwy. 542 east for 12 miles to Forest Road #3065 (Twin Lakes Road). The road is located on the left hand side of the highway just beyond the Department of Transportation's Shuksan maintenance facility. Turn left on Twin Lakes Road and continue approximately 5 miles to the Tomyhoi Lake/Yellow Aster Butte Trailhead. Parking is plentiful at the trailhead and a toilet is also available.
I'm in am middle of it , its awsome
My partner and I did this trail a year ago and loved it! Some areas of continuous elevation gain where tough if you’re just getting back into hiking, but so rewarding at the summit. Tons of wildflowers, not many people and dog friendly!
Absolutely magnificent trail. The road leading to the trailhead has some potholes but it's not a long drive. A large portion of the trail is uncovered so bring sunscreen. Breathtaking views!
Hi It’s been a good trail
If you like grand mountain views and brilliant vegetation for most of the hike then you came to the right place.
The views are amazing! So worth the trip, logged about 8 miles and got snowed out. A cold but fun night.
So beautiful right now! I don’t think the fall colors are past their peak like another reviewer said; I think they’re in their prime. Absolutely breathtaking right now. Well worth it, and a favorite for sure.
What an amazing hike, fall colors are past the peak but they were beautiful nonetheless!! The last stretch of the hike was totally worth it, with the cascade mountain views on the east side!
Amazing hike with beautiful fall colors and stunning views of Baker, Shuksan and the Cascades
beautiful flowers :)
Awesome place. best time to hike is between Sept 15 and oct 15. very clourful and scenic.
Really beautiful hike. The weather was amazing. The first and last 30 minutes are kinda intense and the toughest part. Once you are on the top, its all worth it and plenty of views and picturesque scenery along the route.
Fall colours at their best, beautiful day!!
Lovely
A great trail but there is a lot of smoke from the BC fires currently obscuring the views. I'd recommend starting early if you decide to take on this hike with the smoke. The air is quite heavy / thick esp for the first mile plus. It seemed to clear a bit as we climbed and there was a breeze that picked up after about a mile and a half. I think they are under calling the length of this hike. We reached the split in the trail at just over 2.0 miles when the details here show it at about 1.6 miles. A few other people noted the trail clocks in around 7.9 miles or so roundtrip. We bailed due to the weather / smoke and ended up with 6.3 miles roundtrip and we had another 0.7 or 0.8 miles to get to the Yellow Aster Butte summit. I'd try this hike again when the weather is a bit better.
Started hike around 11am, still a bit hazy from the regional wildfires, but overall good visibility. If you havent hiked in a while be patient with yourself and the trail, there are some decent elevation gains. Once you reach the split, stay left to continue on the YAB.
Great trail and magnificent views! Lakes, wildflowers, running falls. No wildlife seen, maybe because of the high number of dogs (all off leash). Minimal snowfields left. Canopy cover, mainly, first 1.75 miles-definitely do early in the day. My husband and I both logged 7.9 miles on our devices.
Just got back from an overnighter at Yellow Aster. Absolutely amazing night for it. Still quite some snow, but it is quickly melting. Just wear your sturdy boots and you'll be fine. Glad we were going down on the Saturday because a lot of people were going up :). Seriously one of the best hikes ever!
One of the most beautiful hikes. The Forest Service road is heavily potholed, but readily passable in a car if driven prudently. Departed the trailhead at 8:55 under sunny skies, with only two other vehicles present. The first ~ 1 mile of trail is clear, but then the snowfields take over. Trekking poles were most helpful. About a 1/2 mile past the turnoff for the Tomyhoi Lake Trail, we put on microspikes as the snowfields steepened. At 3.1 miles, the trail crosses a high bench where the results of a fall appeared serious, so we opted to turn around. On the way back down, we turned to see the route that we had taken, and a marmot crossed our descent path. Bugs weren't too bad, but the sun off the snow fields was brutal.
Very snow covered still in early July. Making it extremely difficult to follow the trail but some magnificent views of you stick with it.
Gorgeous spot to camp. Bring warm clothes.
Did the hike on 10/15. Road is snow free, doable by any car, but long-base and low clearance car might scratch the bottom and bumpers in one place. First half of the way up is muddy and snow free, but second part is wet snow and it is slippery. Views are gorgeous and definitely worth visiting.
The fall color is coming out. We did the scramble to the true northern summit. Class 2 with some exposure for the last little bit. The trail to the southern false summit is in excellent conditions and is very busy.
Stunning vistas, wildlife, and wild flowers and fall colours... all time favorite.
What an amazing 3 day trip, spectacular views, great weather, wonderful alpine flowers and next to no bugs. It does not get any better than this hike.
Amazing 360 views from the top. And every corner you turn on the way up something new to see
CATHLEEN L.
This was much harder of a hike than I expected. The trail was very steep right from the beginning. Views of the mountains were stunning.
Really fun and beautiful!
