Midway High Lakes Area, also known as High Lakes Area, is a

United States Forest Service The United States Forest Service (USFS) is an agency within the United States Department of Agriculture, U.S. Department of Agriculture. It administers the nation's 154 United States National Forest, national forests and 20 United States Natio ...

–designated area located in

Washington Washington most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A ...

’s

Cascade Mountains The Cascade Range or Cascades is a major mountain range of western North America, extending from southern British Columbia through Washington and Oregon to Northern California. It includes both non-volcanic mountains, such as many of those in the ...

. It lies on a high plateau on Mount Adams' northwestern flank. It is between the

Goat Rocks Goat Rocks is an Volcano#Extinct, extinct stratovolcano in the Cascade Range, located between Mount Rainier and Mount Adams (Washington), Mount Adams in southern Washington (state), Washington, in the United States. Part of the Cascade Volcan ...

on the north and

Mount Hood Mount Hood, also known as Wy'east, is an active stratovolcano in the Cascade Range and is a member of the Cascade Volcanic Arc. It was formed by a subduction zone on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast and rests in the Pacific N ...

to the south and contains Takhlakh Lake along with several other lakes. The area offers five scenic high elevation lakes all within a radius. It is administered by the

Gifford Pinchot National Forest Gifford Pinchot National Forest is a National Forest located in southern Washington, managed by the United States Forest Service. With an area of , it extends along the western slopes of Cascade Range from Mount Rainier National Park to the C ...

. While even the most visited areas at Mount Adams pale in comparison to nearby St. Helens or Rainier, it is by its own standards one of the most popular recreational areas around Mount Adams. Some of the lakes offers photogenic views of Mount Adams from across the lake.

Geography

The Midway High Lakes Area lies below the volcanic peak of Mount Adams, and Adams Glacier cascading from the summit in a series of

icefall An icefall is a portion of certain glaciers characterized by relatively rapid flow and chaotic crevassed surface, caused in part by gravity. The term ''icefall'' is formed by analogy with the word ''waterfall'', which is a similar phenomenon of ...

s. It is the second largest glacier in the

State of Washington Washington, officially the State of Washington, is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is often referred to as Washington State to distinguish it from the national capital, both named after George Washington ...

, after

Carbon Glacier Carbon Glacier is located on the north slope of Mount Rainier in the U.S. state of Washington and is the source of the Carbon River. The snout at the glacier terminal moraine is at about above sea level, making it the lowest-elevation glacier in ...

Mount Rainier Mount Rainier ( ), also known as Tahoma, is a large active stratovolcano in the Cascade Range of the Pacific Northwest in the United States. The mountain is located in Mount Rainier National Park about south-southeast of Seattle. With an off ...

. The area is characterized by several volcanic features in addition to Mount Adams, such as the Takh Takh Lava Flow, the Muddy Fork Lava Flows, and Potato Hill, a small tall cinder cone below the Muddy Fork Lava Flows. There are some meadows and marshes, with Takh Takh Meadows being the most well known. Muddy Meadows is another named meadow in the High Lakes Area, near Riley Horse Camp and Muddy Meadows Trail accessing the

Pacific Crest Trail The Pacific Crest Trail (PCT), officially designated as the Pacific Crest National Scenic Trail, is a long-distance hiking and equestrian trail closely aligned with the highest portion of the Cascade and Sierra Nevada mountain ranges, which lie ...

and the Mount Adams Wilderness.

Major lakes

The table below lists the five major

lake A lake is often a naturally occurring, relatively large and fixed body of water on or near the Earth's surface. It is localized in a basin or interconnected basins surrounded by dry land. Lakes lie completely on land and are separate from ...

s within the Midway High Lakes Area.

Recreation

The High Lakes Area includes several lakes offering

hiking A hike is a long, vigorous walk, usually on trails or footpaths in the countryside. Walking for pleasure developed in Europe during the eighteenth century. Long hikes as part of a religious pilgrimage have existed for a much longer time. "Hi ...

backpacking Backpacking may refer to: * Backpacking (travel), low-cost, independent, international travel * Backpacking (hiking), trekking and camping overnight in the wilderness * Ultralight backpacking, a style of wilderness backpacking with an emphasis on ...

fishing Fishing is the activity of trying to catch fish. Fish are often caught as wildlife from the natural environment (Freshwater ecosystem, freshwater or Marine ecosystem, marine), but may also be caught from Fish stocking, stocked Body of water, ...

, non-motorized boating and

canoeing Canoeing is an activity which involves paddling a canoe with a single-bladed paddle. In some parts of Europe, canoeing refers to both canoeing and kayaking, with a canoe being called an 'open canoe' or Canadian. A few of the recreational ...

, scenic driving, and developed and primitive

camping Camping is a form of outdoor recreation or outdoor education involving overnight stays with a basic temporary shelter such as a tent. Camping can also include a recreational vehicle, sheltered cabins, a permanent tent, a shelter such as a Bivy bag ...

experiences. The area offers several campgrounds including the popular Takhlakh Lake Campground. Other campgrounds are Olallie Lake Campground, Horseshoe Lake Campground, Killen Creek Campground, Council Lake Campground, Chain of Lakes Campground, Cat Creek Campground, Twin Falls Campground, and Adams Fork Campground. The popular and developed Walupt Lake Campground is also nearby, northeast of the Midway High Lakes Area at the southwestern base of the

. The area is the highlight of the High Lakes Loop, a scenic driving loop in the White Pass National Scenic Byway beginning at

Randle Randle, as a surname or a given name, may refer to: Surname * Betsy Randle (born 1955), American actress * Bill Randle (1923–2004), American disc jockey, lawyer and university professor * Brian Randle (born 1985), American NBA coach and basketba ...

. There are several waterfalls nearby, including Twin Falls, Steamboat Falls, Babyshoe Falls, Big Spring Creek Falls, and Riley Creek Falls.

In media

Mount Adams Midway High Lakes Area Visitor Map

* In 1989, ''

National Geographic ''National Geographic'' (formerly ''The National Geographic Magazine'', sometimes branded as ''Nat Geo'') is an American monthly magazine published by National Geographic Partners. The magazine was founded in 1888 as a scholarly journal, nine ...

'' featured a photograph showing vacationers playing at Takhlakh Lake. The photo was taken by James P. Blair for, but not published in, "Old Growth Forests: Will We Save Our Own?," September 1990, ''National Geographic'' magazine) * In 2013, ''National Geographic'' featured Takhklakh Lake in a photograph titled: "Mount Adams reflected in Takhlakh Lake". It was one of the twenty places in the world chosen for ''National Geographic'' Must-Do Trips, called "Ultimate Adventure Bucket List 2013". The post was entitled as "Must-Do Trip: Hike Around Mount Adams, Washington". The photo was taken by Randall J. Hodges, from

Getty Images Getty Images Holdings, Inc. (stylized as gettyimages) is a visual media company and supplier of stock images, editorial photography, video, and music for business and consumers, with a library of over 477 million assets. It targets three mark ...

. In it, she recommends the

circumnavigation Circumnavigation is the complete navigation around an entire island, continent, or astronomical object, astronomical body (e.g. a planet or natural satellite, moon). This article focuses on the circumnavigation of Earth. The first circumnaviga ...

of Mount Adams on a route hiking on several trails: the Highline, the Round the Mountain, and others (such as a portion of the

); and includes some off-trail hiking at the east side of the mountain.

References

External links