One of the West Coast’s best fall color hikes closes for the season the same week it peaks this year

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Washington’s Chain Lakes Loop has a closing date this year, and it lands right in the middle of peak color. Artist Point shuts down for the winter with the season’s first real snowfall — usually late September into early October — which is the exact same window the alpine larches up there turn gold. Miss it, and the wait is until next July.

That kind of tight timing is basically the mood of West Coast fall travel right now. Here’s one hike in Washington, one drive in Oregon, and one loop in California worth building a long weekend around before the color’s gone.

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Psst — we made you a West Coast Adventure Map. Nearly 1,900 of our favorite spots, already pinned, ready to load into Google Maps in two clicks — grab it here.

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Washington: Chain Lakes Loop, North Cascades

We’ve hiked this one, and it earns every step of the roughly 6.5 miles. The loop climbs about 1,820 feet from the Artist Point or Heather Meadows trailheads, past Bagley, Iceberg, Hayes, and Mazama Lakes, with Mount Baker and Mount Shuksan trading the spotlight the whole way around.

Go counterclockwise if you can — it gets the steep Wild Goose Trail switchbacks done on fresh legs, then turns the rest of the loop into a long, scenic wander past alpine water. By late September the meadows shift from summer wildflowers to orange and red, and the larches higher up follow with gold through early-to-mid October.

Here’s the catch: the highway east of Glacier closes for seasonal maintenance from Sept. 29 through Oct. 2, and once real snow shows up, Artist Point shuts for the winter — typically that same late-September-to-early-October stretch. Check current road status before you drive out, because this window is short even in a good year.

The trailhead sits off Mount Baker Highway (SR 542), about 34 miles east of Bellingham, and you’ll need a Northwest Forest Pass or America the Beautiful Pass to park. Washington is for Adventure has the full turn-by-turn if you want it.

Oregon: the Mount Hood Loop, minus the summit crowds

The Mount Hood Scenic Byway loops about 105 miles around the mountain, mixing river gorge views, orchard country, and old-growth forest without ever pointing you toward the summit itself. Vine maple and huckleberry bushes turn the understory red along several of the lake stops, which is really the whole reason to run this drive in fall instead of July.

Lost Lake is the stop worth actually getting out of the car for — Mount Hood reflects almost perfectly off the water on a still morning, and the easy 3.1-mile Lakeshore Loop Trail circles the whole thing without much climbing. Day-use runs around $15 per vehicle, since the resort operates the site rather than the Forest Service directly.

Oregon is for Adventure’s Mount Hood guide covers more stops along the way if you want to make a full day of it.

California: the June Lake Loop, Highway 395’s fall detour

We’ve swum in June Lake more than once, and it’s cold every single time — worth it anyway. The 16-mile loop off Highway 395 strings together four lakes (June, Gull, Silver, and Grant), and fall is when it actually looks the way the postcards promise, with aspens and cottonwoods turning gold against the granite.

Color usually starts by mid-September and can hold through mid-October, though it shifts year to year, so don’t lock in a date more than a week or two out. One stretch of Highway 158 past Silver Lake narrows down to barely two lanes with nowhere to pull over — slow down and save the photos for an actual turnout.

California is for Adventure’s full loop guide has the rest of the stops if you’ve got time to do all four lakes.

Trip tips: grab a rental car to get between all three stops, lock in your hotel before the good rooms are gone, or skip both and book a camper van instead — there’s no shortage of places to park it along this route.

Rules and fees change — always confirm current requirements before you go.