Backpack Trail Guide

Trails / Washington / Olympic Peninsula

Seven Lakes Basin and High Divide Loop

Olympic National Park, Sol Duc Valley (Sol Duc Trailhead, end of Sol Duc-Hot Springs Road)

The High Divide is a ridge between the Sol Duc and Hoh valleys in the northwest Olympics. From its crest, hikers look south across the Hoh to Mount Olympus and the Blue Glacier, and north into the Seven Lakes Basin, a bowl of subalpine lakes.

The National Park Service lists the loop at 18.2 miles with 3,050 feet of gain and a best season of mid-July through September.

The hike

The loop starts at the Sol Duc Trailhead and splits near Sol Duc Falls, which Backpacker says splits into three channels. Peninsula Daily News, describing a counterclockwise trip in 2020, climbs 2.9 miles up Canyon Creek to Deer Lake (3,720 feet), then 3.3 miles more to the High Divide, with the first views into the Hoh and Bogachiel basins.

The ridge walk is the centerpiece. Backpacker calls it “the big show,” with “aerial views of teal-colored Sol Duc, Long, and Lunch Lakes” in the basin below. A short detour reaches Bogachiel Peak, which Peninsula Daily News calls the highest point on the High Divide, at about 5,474 to 5,478 feet. The article says Mount Olympus is about 6 miles south. NPS notes a 0.5-mile spur down to Lunch Lake, one of the basin’s main camps.

From Bogachiel Peak, the trail continues along the ridge above the basin, past the Hoh Lake junction, about 2 miles to Heart Lake (4,777 feet in the 2020 article). NPS says Heart Lake and several smaller lakes have no fish, while other lakes in the basin are popular for fishing. From Heart Lake, the trail drops 3.5 miles into Sol Duc Park, crosses the river on a footbridge, and follows the Sol Duc River about 5 miles back to the trailhead. NPS says this upper Sol Duc stretch has “many convenient campsites and water.”

Backpacker suggests the clockwise direction instead, climbing up the Sol Duc to Heart Lake first. Either way, NPS warns that snow can cover the High Divide until mid-July or later, and Backpacker mentions an optional spur to Cat Basin.

NPS says elk and bear sightings are common in the basin. Peninsula Daily News advises packing plenty of insect repellent for mosquitoes and flies.

For a longer Olympic trip that reaches the Blue Glacier on the other side of the ridge, see the Hoh River Trail to Glacier Meadows.

Tips

Camping

Camping is allowed only in designated sites. NPS names Sol Duc Park, Heart Lake, Lunch Lake, and Deer Lake as the main camps, each with a vault toilet. Groups of 7 to 12 must use designated group sites at Sevenmile, Sol Duc Park, Deer Lake, or C.B. Flats on the Hoh Lake Trail. All food, garbage, and scented items go in park-approved bear canisters. Campfires are prohibited above 3,500 feet. Treat all water.

Inside Intel: Backpacker’s route notes call Heart Lake a “great campsite with mountainous views” and Deer Lake a “superb campsite.” The Outbound’s guide says Heart Lake splits the loop into two roughly even days, and warns that Deer Lake gets “a lot of traffic.”

Trail facts

The Lowdown

Lakeside camps above 3,500 feet:

Heart Lake and Lunch Lake sit in subalpine basins where snow can linger into July and nights run cool. See the sleeping pads testers rate for warmth.

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Where this comes from

This page draws on the sources below, along with other guides and trip reports. Links go to the original pages.

Before you go: This page is based on published trail guides, trip reports, and reviews, along with official park and agency information where we could find it. It’s meant to help backpackers discover new trails, not to replace current, official information. Conditions, closures, permits, campsites, and water sources change, and some details here may be out of date or wrong. Confirm everything with the managing agency and check current conditions before you head out, and don’t rely on this page alone for safety or navigation. Backcountry travel involves risk.