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Submission
This is a moderately-used trail connecting the Pratt Lake with Melakwa Lake within Alpine Lakes Wilderness.
Leaving Pratt Lake, traverse through forest and open slopes with great views 10 miles down the Pratt River Valley to the Middle Fork River. (Look for the transition from second growth forest to uncut forest in the valley below. That’s as far as the North Bend Timber Company was able to drag trees down to the 1930s-era railroad line below.) Pass by the north shore of Lower Tuscohatchie Lake to the junction of the Kaleetan Lake Trail 1010 at approximately .7 miles and stay right.
Beyond Tuscohatchie Lake, the trail continues for two miles with little elevation gain through old-growth forest with occasional views of the Pratt River valley and Kaleetan Peak. Continue for 2.3 miles, ascending gradually at first and ending in a series of switchbacks that climb to the junction with the Denny Creek Trail near Melakwa Lake. Melakwa Lake is beautiful, with clear green water and surrounding views of Bryant Peak from the east and Chair Peak from the northeast side.
https://www.fs.usda.gov/recarea/mbs/recreation/recarea/?recid=18004&actid=50
From Seattle, head east on I-90 to exit 47 Denny Creek/Tinkham Road. At the top of the exit ramp, turn left and cross over the freeway. Go 0.2 miles and turn right at the stop sign onto Forest Road 58. The road crosses under the freeway, after driving 0.2 miles, turn left.
Continue straight on for 2.9 miles and about a half mile past the Denny Creek Campground there is a large paved parking lot on the right that can accommodate about 60 cars.
The trailhead can be accessed via a trail that begins near the bulletin board in the parking lot.
The Denny Creek parking restrooms are closed, but the restrooms at Franklin Falls are available to hikers.
There is ADA parking available nearer the Franklin Falls trailhead. Be sure to have a placard; parking patrols are on and will ticket violaters.
We went on Nov 9th. It took 7 hours for us both ways starting from Franklin Falls trail parking. Beautiful hike with little snow on the trail. Difficulty level: hard. But worth it at the end.
Good hike with amazing views of the lake on a sunny day. You get nice views of some creeks on your way up and a couple waterfalls as well. I would recommend wearing some boots with good ankle support because a lot of the way up will be going up tree roots and rocks. Make sure to keep going once you get to the lake and take a look at Upper Melakwa as well. 10/10 easy!
Awesome hike that leads under the I-90 overpass and up high to a tucked away Alpine lake. The trail has a lot of dust if it hasn't rained in a while but it's nothing that a quick dip in the lake can't remedy.
Awesome hike and great place to spend the day at the lake. The hike up and down is pretty tough, but there are a lot of views and swim holes on the way up. Parking lot was full and had to park 0.8 miles from the trailhead. Get there early
Hands down, one of the most beautiful lakes in the PNW! Took us about 7h in & out from the Franklin Falls parking lot with stops at the gorgeous waterfalls and a nice break at the lake! Make sure you take a view extra steps and go to the upper Lake! Look up to the peak in front of view, we saw some cool mountain goats there.
