Indian Heaven Wilderness Hiking Trails

The 20,784 acre Indian Heaven Wilderness is a forested high plateau, dominated by fir (Pacific silver, noble, subalpine), with numerous open meadows and more than 150 lakes. Many of the lakes are stocked with rainbow and brook trout.

Lava once flowed from the numerous volcanic cones that rise above the plateau which reach their highest point on Lemei Rock (5,927'), where a broad crater now contains Lake Wapiki. Originally known as "Sahalee Tyee," the area is culturally important to Native Americans. Periodically over the past 9,000 years the Yakima, Klickitat, Cascades, Wasco, Wishram, and Umatilla tribes gathered here for berry picking, fishing, and hunting.

Indian Heaven is known for wildflower color and swarms of biting insects in the summer. The snow melts away in the area around mid-July. Fall is a good time to visit due to the brilliant fall colors and the winding down of mosquito season. Deer and elk reside here until winter snows drive them lower, along with black bears attracted to the ripening of fall huckleberries.

The Pacific Crest National Scenic Trail #2000 crosses the entire Wilderness north-south for a distance of 16.4 miles, with several side trails to some of the larger lakes and to the Indian Racetrack, a 2,000-foot-long field where horse racing once provided a break from the tribal food-gathering routine. Seven other trails enter from the east and west to join the Pacific Crest Trail.

A designated campsite system has been implemented in the vicinity of Thomas and Blue Lakes.