Bandera Mountain & Mason Lake Hike Washington

On the west side of Snoqualmie Pass are the hikes to Bandera Mountain (5200 ft elevation) and Mason Lake.  We took in both hikes for a 10 mile hike with 3500 ft elevation gain.

The trail starts with a gentle climb through the forest and passes the falls.

 The trail continues to climb in the cool forest.

 At about 2.5 miles the trail divides, to the left a gentle climb to Mason Lake, to the right the steep climb up to Bandera Mountain. We headed up to Bandera, this section gains 1000 ft in one mile.

 Plenty of opportunity to pause and enjoy the views, Mt Rainier is seen to the south.

 At the top of the ridge there are some boulders to scramble over.

From the summit of Bandera, you can see the Olympic Mountains across Puget Sound to the west.

 The Cascade Mountains continue to the North, Mason Lake is seen below.

 More of Mount Rainier can be seen along with Mount Adams.

After enjoying our lunch and the views at the top of Bandera Mountain, we hike down the trail and took the side trip to Mason Lake. A great place to soak our feet and look up to to top of Bandera Mt.

Lots of wildflowers along the hike.