The Best Day Hikes Along the Pacific Crest Trail By Dave Stamboulis

What sets the PCT apart from most long-distance trails is just how much continuous stunning natural beauty there is on the entire trail. Long thru-hikes often suffer from long road walks, or stretches of trail that are just kind of “blah,” essentially being necessary to connect a route. But not on the Pacific Crest Trail. It’s not just the High Sierras that are gorgeous. Even if you don’t have the entire hike on your agenda, you still can go out and tackle some of the best bits of it merely as day hikes, or else short weekend overnights. Here are some of the best walks along the trail to get you started.

Goat Rocks Traverse, Washington (Main Photo): Set between Mount Adams and Mount Rainier, this might be the most scenic hike in all Washington. You can access the PCT from Snowgrass Flats and climb up to Goat Lake and Old Snowy Peak. From here, you could overnight camp and continue along the beautiful knife edge ridge trail, which features stunning views of Mount Rainier ahead. This section was by far my favorite day on the entire PCT, combining jaw-dropping scenery with an airy fun walk. Note that it gets really crowded here in mid-summer, but with scenery like this, it’s easy to see why.



Tunnel Falls, Oregon: Set just outside of Cascade Locks in northern Oregon, even PCT purists will get off the main trail to take this alternative route, that’s how worthwhile it is. The route follows the Eagle Creek Trail, which if you are doing it as a day hike, is 12 miles return from the trailhead. You’ll make your way up beautiful Eagle Creek and eventually emerge at the spellbinding Tunnel Falls, where the trail disappears into a cliffside behind a 170-foot vertical waterfall. It’s classic Pacific Northwest, green, mossy, wet, and jaw-droppingly beautiful, as well as accessible in just a day!



Lava Trails, McKenzie Pass, Oregon: One of the easiest access hikes along the PCT, both sides of Oregon’s McKenzie Pass wind through some mesmerizing and unique lava scenery. NASA even came up here in the 1960s to test out space suits as they thought the terrain was similar to the moon! There’s an observatory up here, and the Lava Lake campground is just off the PCT. The lava is tough on the soles, so wear good shoes, and enjoy the eerie moonscape combined with fabulous views of Mount Jefferson, Mount Washington, and the Sisters which rise above the landscape.



Mount Whitney, California: Most PCT hikers make an ascent of Mount Whitney for sunrise from Crabtree Meadows. While you can do it in a day, you’ll be coming from Whitney Portal on the other side to do so, but whichever route you take up, it really is something else to stand atop the highest point in the Lower 48, at 14,505 feet. You’ll need to get a permit well in advance to climb Whitney, and the altitude can be brutal if you aren’t properly acclimatized, but watching the sunrise from these lofty heights is simply magical.



Mt. Baden-Powell, California: Thru-hikers often see the San Gabriel’s second highest peak far before they get there, and those who think of Los Angeles as just a dry desert be forewarned, there is plenty of snow up here even in April and a winter ascent is only for equipped mountaineers. The summit lies just off the PCT and is the highest point reached on the trail prior to reaching the Sierras. For a day hike, start at Vincent’s Gulch and climb switchbacks for 4 miles to the top, which is very exposed. There’s an old gnarled pine tree just before the top which is 1500 years old!



Crater Lake Rim Trail, Oregon: While the route around spectacular Crater Lake isn’t actually part of the PCT, it is another place where pretty much every hiker takes the alternate Rim Trail, which meanders for 6 miles high up above the lake, offering fantastic panoramic views all the way along. PCT hikers come up from Mazama Village via the Dutton Creek Trail, which climbs steeply to Rim Village. From there, it’s fairly flat as you navigate the trail, which swings north to rejoin the PCT up near the junction of the West and East Rim drives.



Mount Hood, Oregon: PCT hikers make a beeline for the legendary buffet breakfast at historic Timberline Lodge, but the lodge is also the starting point for a fabulous day hike that gives superlative views of Mount Hood, features abundant summer wildflowers, and the Paradise Park trail does a 12 mile loop that drops into scenic Zigzag Canyon before looping back around. There’s plenty of up and down, offering enough appetite to have you joining the thru-hikers at the breakfast table!



Castle Crags, California: Northern California’s Castle Crags State Park offers some similar scenery to the High Sierra, with its soaring granite domes. The PCT marches through the heart of it, and you can do an superb day hike here by accessing the park from the Dog Trailhead, and heading east on the PCT for 7 miles, to Interstate 5. If you don’t want to do a round trip, you’ll want to do this trek with a car shuttle.



Tuolomne Meadows, California: For a taste of the grandeur of Yosemite without too much of the work, this easy hike heads right out of the Tuolomne Campground onto the John Muir Trail and PCT and goes north for six miles past the beautiful Tuolomne Falls and alongside of the scenic river. You’ll get views of granite domes, probably see some wildlife, and can either turn around at Glen Aulin High Sierra camp, or if you’ve got a reservation, turn it into an overnight.

Eagle Rock, California: One of the highlights of hiking through the California desert is passing by Eagle Rock, a pile of granite boulders that look exactly like an eagle. Outside of extremely warm summer temperatures, this is a fun and easy hike that is only around seven miles return from the trailhead start in tiny Warner Springs. You’ll walk through chaparral and grasslands, through cattle country, and eventually emerge at the most aptly named rock. It’s one of the easiest access points, trails, and big-ticket finishes on the PCT, and spring hikes are renowned for the abundant wildflower blooms here.