Myrtle Lake

Myrtle Lake covers 11,133 acres of high mountain backcountry along the spine of the Entiat Mountains in the Entiat Ranger District of the Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest. The area is anchored by a string of named peaks and passes — Cardinal Peak, Emerald Peak, Saska Peak, Saska Pass, Garland Peak, Pugh Ridge, Duncan Hill, Devils Smoke Stack, Rampart Mountain, Gopher Mountain, and Grouse Pass — and sits on the headwaters of the Three Creek-Entiat River, a major hydrologic system. Cold mountain water rises in Myrtle Lake, Fern Lake, and Choral Lake and runs out through Anthem Creek, Grouse Creek, South Pyramid Creek, Choral Creek, Cow Creek, Larch Lakes Creek, and the North Fork Entiat River before joining the main Entiat downstream.

Forest community structure traces the steep elevational gradient typical of the eastern Cascades. Northern Rockies Ponderosa Pine Woodland and Intermountain Mountain Sagebrush Steppe hold the warm, dry lower margins; East Cascades Moist Mountain Conifer Forest and Rocky Mountain Lodgepole Pine Forest dominate the mid-elevations with Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii) and lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta) above an understory of pinemat manzanita (Arctostaphylos nevadensis), twinflower (Linnaea borealis), and Oregon boxleaf (Paxistima myrsinites). Higher up, Pacific Northwest Mountain Hemlock Forest, Rocky Mountain Wet Subalpine Spruce-Fir Forest, and Northern Rockies Subalpine Woodland and Parkland carry the slow-growing whitebark pine (Pinus albicaulis), western white pine (Pinus monticola, IUCN near threatened), and subalpine larch (Larix lyallii). Pacific Northwest Alpine Dry Grassland and Pacific Northwest Alpine Bedrock and Scree on the summits and Grouse Pass support Brandegee's desert-parsley (Lomatium brandegeei, IUCN vulnerable), Davis' knotweed (Koenigia davisiae), and Henderson's phlox (Phlox hendersonii).

Wildlife sorts itself across these strata. American pika (Ochotona princeps) call from the talus below Cardinal and Emerald Peaks; Cascade golden-mantled ground squirrel (Callospermophilus saturatus) hold the rocky meadow edges; mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus) graze the higher openings during the warmer months. Clark's nutcracker (Nucifraga columbiana) cache seeds in the whitebark pine on the ridge crests, while Cassin's finch (Haemorhous cassinii) and red-naped sapsucker (Sphyrapicus nuchalis) work the mid-elevation conifers; mountain bluebird (Sialia currucoides) hawk insects above the parkland. Black swift (Cypseloides niger) nest behind waterfalls, and American dipper (Cinclus mexicanus) work the cold reaches of the North Fork Entiat. Pacific treefrog (Pseudacris regilla) hold the lake margins and seeps. Portions of this area fall within the potential range of several federally listed species — including Canada lynx and wolverine — see the Conservation section for details.

A walker climbing into Myrtle Lake from the Entiat River trailhead moves first through mid-elevation Douglas-fir and lodgepole pine, then up into mountain hemlock and subalpine larch as the trail approaches Saska Pass. From the ridge crest the basin holding Myrtle Lake opens below with Cardinal and Emerald Peaks rising above; the wind carries the calls of pika from the talus and the sharp clack of nutcrackers in the whitebark pine. North Fork Entiat River, Larch Lakes Creek, and Choral Creek thread visibly downslope through subalpine parkland.

For thousands of years the upper Entiat River drainage that holds Myrtle Lake lay within the homelands of the Entiat band, one of the 12 Middle Columbia Salish bands now known together as the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation along with their Chelan, Methow, Okanogan, and Wenatchi neighbors [3]. The P'Squosa — given the name Wenatchi by the Yakama tribe — traveled along the Icicle, Wenatchee, and Columbia rivers throughout the year, fishing, hunting, and harvesting berries [2]. Bitterroot was gathered on the lower valley hillsides and is still relatively common in some locations today [6]. The economy of these tribes centered on salmon fishing but they also gathered roots and berries and hunted game [1]. On June 9, 1855, the Wenatchee chief Tecolekun and 13 other Native American leaders signed the Yakima Treaty at the Walla Walla Council with Governor Isaac Stevens, extinguishing indigenous title to 10.8 million acres of north central Washington [1]. Most Wenatchees and the Chelans eventually settled on the Colville Reservation; many tribal members were forced to move to the Colville Reservation or the Yakama Reservations [1][2].

European-American activity reached the Entiat drainage in stages. Trappers from the Pacific Fur Company, the North West Company, and the Hudson's Bay Company visited the Chelan and Wenatchee valleys from the 1810s through the 1840s in search of beaver pelts [1]. Chinese prospectors looking for gold in the rivers and streams were the first non-Indians to live in the Chelan and Wenatchee valleys, starting in about 1863 [1]. The Entiat Valley itself was difficult to reach and did not see permanent non-Native settlement until the late 1880s [7]. John Detwiler claimed a homestead near the mouth of the Entiat River, with Lewis settling about three miles upriver in the lower Entiat Valley [7]. Logging within the valley has a varied history: in 1892 the first log mill was established near the mouth of the Entiat River [6]. The Great Northern Railway bridged the Columbia River south of Wenatchee in 1892, opening shipping markets [7].

Federal protection followed the conservation movement that swept the West at the turn of the century. The Wenatchee National Forest was established in 1908, spanning more than 2 million acres [4]. The forest's name originates with the Wenatchii Indian tribe and the Wenatchee River [4]. On July 1, 1910, the districts in the Entiat watershed were detached from the Wenatchee National Forest and attached to the Chelan National Forest [8]. The forest was administratively combined with the Okanogan National Forest in 2000 to become the Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest [4]. Today the 11,133-acre Myrtle Lake Inventoried Roadless Area sits within the Entiat Ranger District — 272,101 acres on the arid eastern slopes of the Cascade Mountains [5] — and remains protected under the 2001 Roadless Area Conservation Rule.

Vital Resources Protected

• Cold Headwater Stream Integrity: Myrtle Lake's 11,133 unroaded acres protect the headwaters of the Three Creek-Entiat River, a major hydrologic system, along with the North Fork Entiat River and the lake chain at Myrtle, Fern, and Choral Lakes. Pacific Northwest Mountain Streamside Forest along Anthem Creek, Grouse Creek, South Pyramid Creek, Choral Creek, and Larch Lakes Creek remains uncut by road crossings, preserving the cold, sediment-poor habitat that bull trout require for spawning. The high alpine lakes also support golden trout (Oncorhynchus aguabonita, IUCN critically imperiled), a species that depends on cold, well-oxygenated water.
• Subalpine Climate Refugia: The roadless condition keeps an exceptional stack of high-elevation community types intact across Cardinal Peak, Emerald Peak, Saska Peak, Saska Pass, Garland Peak, and the Entiat Mountains crest — Northern Rockies Subalpine Woodland and Parkland, Pacific Northwest Mountain Hemlock Forest, Rocky Mountain Wet Subalpine Spruce-Fir Forest, Pacific Northwest Alpine Dry Grassland, and Pacific Northwest Alpine Bedrock and Scree. Subalpine larch (Larix lyallii), whitebark pine (IUCN endangered), western white pine (IUCN near threatened), Brandegee's desert-parsley (IUCN vulnerable), Henderson's phlox, and American pika all depend on these climate-buffered sites; once disturbed they re-establish over centuries, not decades.
• Wide-Ranging Carnivore Connectivity: The 11,133-acre unroaded core sits within the larger high-country corridor that links the Entiat Mountains to the Glacier Peak Wilderness, providing the unfragmented habitat that Canada lynx and North American wolverine require for dispersal and breeding. Both species depend on deep snow, undisturbed denning sites, and continuous large blocks of forest cover; roads are documented to fragment lynx and wolverine populations even when traffic is light, because the species avoid road corridors and their winter prey concentrates in unroaded high country.

Potential Effects of Road Construction

• Sedimentation and warming of headwater streams: Road construction across the steep, glaciated walls of the Entiat Mountains would expose cut slopes that deliver chronic sediment into the North Fork Entiat River and the Three Creek headwaters, embedding the cold-water spawning gravels that bull trout depend on and warming the lake outflows that hold golden trout. Culverts at every drainage create barriers across an otherwise connected lake-to-stream network.
• Loss of carnivore corridor function: A new road cut through the Entiat Mountains would sever the high-country connectivity that wolverine and Canada lynx use to move between the Glacier Peak Wilderness and the upper Columbia ranges. Both species are documented to avoid road corridors, and noise, vehicle disturbance, and reduced winter prey along road prisms shrink the effective area of suitable habitat well beyond the road footprint itself.
• Fragmentation and disease introduction in subalpine parkland: Road prisms cut into the Northern Rockies Subalpine Woodland and Parkland become invasive-plant pathways and accelerate the spread of white pine blister rust (Cronartium ribicola), already documented as the largest threat to whitebark pine in these woodlands. For thin-soil cliff-and-scree habitats that hold Brandegee's desert-parsley and Henderson's phlox, recovery operates on a centuries-long timescale once disturbed.

Myrtle Lake protects 11,133 acres of subalpine and alpine backcountry in the Entiat Ranger District of the Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest, threaded by 14 maintained trails open to hikers, horse riders, and mountain bikes. The Pyramid Mountain Trail (1433) is the longest spine at 15.5 miles, climbing through forest into the Entiat Mountains parkland. The Entiat River Trail (1400, 14.2 miles) follows the main river drainage and provides the primary access from the south, with side trails climbing into the lake basins: Larch Lakes (Trail 1430, 2.6 miles), Larch Lakes Spur (1430A, 0.8 miles), Cow Creek Meadows (1404, 3.1 miles), Myrtle Lake (1404A, 0.4 miles), Fern Lake (1436, 1.0 miles), and Anthem Creek (1435, 1.7 miles). The Duncan Hill Trail (1434, 11.0 miles) and its viewpoint spur (1434A, 0.4 miles) climb to one of the area's highest summits; Garland Peak (Trail 1408, 9.6 miles), Pugh Ridge (1438, 4.4 miles), and Basalt Ridge (1515, 9.5 miles) extend the high-ridge network. The North Fork Entiat River Trail (1437) covers 7.7 miles along the principal northern drainage.

Backcountry trips typically start at the Entiat River or Rock Mountain trailheads. The Cottonwood Campground at the head of the Entiat River Road and the Three Creek Campground provide vehicle-accessible base camps just outside the area; dispersed camping along the trail corridors is the standard approach for multi-day trips, with Myrtle Lake, Fern Lake, Larch Lakes, and Choral Lake as common backcountry overnight sites.

Fishing is available in Myrtle Lake, Fern Lake, Choral Lake, and the Larch Lakes group, and in the cold reaches of the North Fork Entiat River, South Pyramid Creek, Anthem Creek, and Larch Lakes Creek. The high alpine lakes hold golden trout, a species that requires cold, well-oxygenated water; anglers should consult current Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife regulations for catch limits, and bull trout where present in the lower Entiat system require strict catch-and-release handling.

Wildlife viewing benefits from the area's unbroken canopy and high-elevation isolation. American pika call from the talus below Cardinal and Emerald Peaks; mule deer graze the higher meadows; Clark's nutcracker work the whitebark pine on the ridgeline; mountain bluebird, red-naped sapsucker, and Swainson's thrush hold the conifer canopy at different strata, and American dipper work the cold reaches of the North Fork Entiat. The Holden Village eBird hotspot to the northwest reports 112 species and provides road-accessible birding for trip planning. Photographers will find subalpine larch turning gold in late September, scarlet gilia and Lewis' monkeyflower in midsummer, and the rare Henderson's phlox on the highest crests.

Winter access is essentially limited to backcountry skiing and snowshoeing from the lower trailheads. Hunting opportunities for mule deer and other species follow Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife seasons; wolverine is fully protected and not a hunted species.

What makes recreation here dependent on the roadless condition is the connected high-country character: roughly 80 miles of trail run through unfragmented forest and ridge habitat between the Entiat Mountains crest and the Glacier Peak Wilderness, the lake basins and creek headwaters remain free of road-derived sediment, and large carnivores including wolverine and Canada lynx use the area as part of a wider corridor. Removing the roadless protection would shorten the unbroken trail experience, alter the cold-water habitat that supports golden trout and bull trout, and reduce the carnivore connectivity that the area currently provides.