Round trip to Poe Mountain: 7 miles to Poe Mountain, 2200 ft. elevation gain
Green Trails Map: Benchmark Mountain
High point: around 6000 ft

Directions: Drive 19 miles east of Stevens Pass on U.S. Route 2 and turn left (north) to Lake Wenatchee on Highway 207 (Lake Wenatchee Highway). Continue to the Lake Wenatchee Ranger Station and drive 1.8 miles to a 'Y'. Turn left on Forest Service Road No. 65 (Little Wenatchee River Road). Continue to Road 6504 on the right (about one mile past Soda Springs Campground). Drive four miles to a road junction and stay right (on road 6504) another two miles to road end and the signed Irving Pass trailhead, elevation 4,200 feet, approximately 25 miles from U.S. Route 2.


Poet Ridge, Trail #1545, #1520: As a mom, I love to find hikes where a little bit of hard work has some major payoffs. This is one of those hikes. Named for famous writers like Longfellow, Irving and Edgar Allan Poe, this is a fairly easy ridge hike with lots of great views. You can even see Glacier Peak on a cloudless day.

There are actually two different trails to the top of the ridge, but the easiest and fastest is via Irving Pass (4900 feet). This climb to the ridge is about 700 feet, in 3/4 mile. After that head left to continue onto Poe Mountain and Longfellow Mountain. The trail is intermittent and you hike up and down over “bumps” in the ridge gaining about 1,000 feet in a total 3 ½ miles to Poe Mountain.

We (me, my husband, 5 year old daughter and 1 year old niece) hiked up to Poe Mountain where an old fire lookout used to stand before we decided to turn around. There was still snow in places in mid-July when we went but easily navigable. You can definitely go further - as far as you like - but this 7 mile round trip hike was enough for us for one day.

See Pictures of this Hike

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