Mount Lillian

Mount Lillian makes for a great day hike in spring, with its fabulous wildflowers and miles of incredible views paired with with mild elevation gains and mostly good trail.

The trail starts just inside the entrance of the Wilcox campground, near the first vault toilet. The Mount Lillian Trail (1601) is good enough up to the first viewpoint, but shortly after, it degrades, becoming much dustier and slippery. This is thanks to the Table Mountain fire, which burned through here in 2012. While a significant amount of the forest survived and small flora is returning, you'll be hiking in and out of the big burn area.

To avoid scrambling up (or down) the unstable tread in the burn, detour off Trail 1601 onto the jeep track 4W312, a junction you arrive at 0.6 miles into your hike from the campground.

This jeep track, while wider and less rugged, leads north to an open, rocky viewpoint, including the Teanaway, the peaks of the Enchantments and even Glacier Peak. This viewpoint is found at the northwest corner of a high plateau, along a rim road with the best wildflower fields in the area.

From there, the jeep track heads east a few hundred yards to the southern terminus of the Tronsen Ridge Trail. At this junction, the road curves around to the south, and after 0.6 miles, arrive at a fork in the trail. The righthand trail rejoins is 1601, which you can take down to the trailhead.

WTA Pro Tip: The trail leading left takes you to the summit of Mount Lillian in 1.5 miles. This route can be very slippery and difficult to navigate thanks to the aforementioned fire -- if you decide to continue up to the actual top of the large face (hiking southeast from the junction with the Tronsen Ridge trail), bring trekking poles and gaiters, to help with stabilization and keeping dust out of your shoes.