Talapus Lake

Difficulty: Easy
4 miles Round Trip
Northwest Forest Pass Required

This is a great hike that is not to far away from North Bend. It's on a very easy trail that follows Talapus creek for most of the way. This makes for great ambiance and some beautiful peeks at small waterfalls.

Talapus Lake

Directions: Take 1-90 East about 15 miles out of North Bend. Take the USFS Road no. 9030, Exit 45. Turn left and go under the freeway. Follow this road for about 1/2 mile until you come to a junction on the right. There will be a sign here pointing the way to Talapus trailhead no. 9039. Follow this road to it's end at about 3 miles.

There is a bathroom here at the trailhead, and there is also another on at the lake once you get there. For those wanting to stay the night, camping is permitted on the lake, though we had a hard time finding good places to pitch a tent and fires are not allowed.

If you have the time and energy go another mile on the trail to Olallie Lake. I promise it is well worth the extra hike. Olallie is smaller, but more quiet as most people stop at Talapus Lake. Camping is permitted here, but again no fires. We spent a lot of time sitting on it's shore talking and watching the fish jump. If you go late September the hillside at Olallie Lake is covered with Huckleberries.

Olallie Lake


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Update June 16, 2014

 It's been a couple of years since I have done this hike. I decided to take a friend up here, as it's an easy hike that doesn't cover too long a distance. I really had forgotten how beautiful it is! With it still being early in the hiking season, the river was raging and the lake was full. It was a cold hike, as our weather has turned back to grey - so common living here in the Pacific Northwest - but being true Westerners, we went anyway. After all, if you don't hike in the rain once in a while, you don't get a lot of hiking done. We had a great time.

Note: There are a lot of log bridges to cross over. The Forest Department is hard at work right now reinforcing, or rebuilding these. It is a very well maintained, nice trail to hike on.