--- title: "Eightmile Lake" url: "https://www.pnwsights.com/place/eightmile-lake-leavenworth/" site: "PNWSights" category: "Parks & Wilderness" city: "Leavenworth" state: "WA" latitude: 47.5356 longitude: -120.8575 photogenic_score: 0.27 updated: "2026-04-29" --- # Eightmile Lake Leavenworth, WA · Parks & Wilderness · Scenic score 27/100 Eightmile Lake is a subalpine lake at 4,641 feet in the Alpine Lakes Wilderness, offering views of towering granite peaks and old-growth forest. The 6.6-mile round trip trail is one of the more accessible routes into the Enchantments area. Larch trees surrounding the lake turn brilliant gold in mid-October. ## Photography guide - Best time of day: golden hour - Crowds: moderate - Best seasons: summer, fall - Shot types: landscape, reflection, wide - Tags: subalpine lake, larch trees, granite peaks, wilderness **Practical tips.** The trailhead is at the end of Icicle Creek Road. A Northwest Forest Pass is required. Overnight permits are needed for camping in the Enchantments zone. ## Author's comments *The larches are the reason. Mid-October, give or take a week depending on how the season has run, and the trees that ring Eightmile turn a gold so saturated it almost reads as artificial in photographs. It is not. That is just what western larch does in the brief window before it drops its needles, and the granite walls behind the lake hold the color back at you like a second source of light. The trail in is reasonable. Six and a half miles round trip, climbing steadily through old-growth and burn scar both, the forest opening as you gain elevation until the lake appears below you at forty-six hundred feet. This is the easier door into the Enchantments, and it shows. You will not be alone in October. But the crowds thin in the late afternoon as day hikers turn back, and if you are still there at golden hour the lake goes glass-still and the larches double themselves on the surface in a way that makes the wide lens worth carrying. I have stood on the eastern shore at the end of a long October day and watched the last light climb the granite while the lake held the gold below. That is the photograph. It does not require much of you beyond patience and the willingness to walk out in the dark. Bring the Northwest Forest Pass. Bring a headlamp. The trailhead at the end of Icicle Creek Road is unremarkable and the lake is not, and the distance between those two facts is the entire point.* ## Photos - ![Eightmile Lake sits calm in the foreground, framed by dark granite rocks, dense evergreen slopes, and a few golden larch trees along the shoreline. In the distance, the granite peaks glow orange in the last light of sunset beneath a pale, cloudy sky.](https://pnwsights.localzen.org/places/eightmile-lake-leavenworth/0.webp) (Frank Cone / Pexels) - ![A calm subalpine lake reflects a steep granite peak, scattered evergreens, and a bright blue sky with thin clouds. Rocky slopes and patches of late-season color line the shore, giving the scene a clear, crisp alpine feel.](https://pnwsights.localzen.org/places/eightmile-lake-leavenworth/1.webp) (dana hamburg / Pexels) - ![Snow blankets Eightmile Lake in a wide winter landscape, with a partially frozen shoreline, dark evergreen forests, and steep granite peaks rising under a cloudy sky. The foreground is soft with wind-shaped drifts, while the lake and mountains create a layered, high-contrast scene.](https://pnwsights.localzen.org/places/eightmile-lake-leavenworth/2.webp) (Frank Cone / Pexels) - ![A hiker with a backpack stands in the foreground of a wide mountain valley, surrounded by dark evergreen forest and steep granite slopes. Soft golden-hour light and a pale sky flatten the distant peaks, giving the scene a hazy, quiet feel.](https://pnwsights.localzen.org/places/eightmile-lake-leavenworth/3.webp) (Isabelle Taylor / Pexels) - ![Steep granite mountains rise behind a forested roadside scene, with dark evergreens climbing the rocky slopes under a pale blue sky. A small building with a green roof and parked vehicles sit at the edge of the road in the foreground.](https://pnwsights.localzen.org/places/eightmile-lake-leavenworth/4.webp) (Anthony Fomin / Pexels) ## Location 47.5356, -120.8575 · [Open in Google Maps](https://www.google.com/maps/search/?api=1&query=47.5356,-120.8575) ## Nearby places - [Colchuck Lake](https://www.pnwsights.com/place/colchuck-lake-leavenworth.md) (Leavenworth, WA) - Colchuck Lake is a stunning alpine lake at 5,570 feet elevation in the Enchantments area, surrounded by granite peaks including Dragontail Peak and Colchuck Peak. - [The Enchantments (Core Zone)](https://www.pnwsights.com/place/the-enchantments-core-zone-leavenworth.md) (Leavenworth, WA) - The Enchantments is a series of alpine lakes and granite basins in the Alpine Lakes Wilderness, often considered the premier alpine destination in Washington State. - [Icicle Gorge Loop Trail](https://www.pnwsights.com/place/icicle-gorge-loop-trail-leavenworth.md) (Leavenworth, WA) - The Icicle Gorge Loop is a 4-mile trail following Icicle Creek through a deep gorge of old-growth cedar and Douglas fir forest. - [Leavenworth Waterfront Park](https://www.pnwsights.com/place/leavenworth-waterfront-park-leavenworth.md) (Leavenworth, WA) - Leavenworth Waterfront Park sits along the Wenatchee River with views of the surrounding Cascade peaks and the Bavarian-themed village architecture. - [Eagle Falls (Skykomish)](https://www.pnwsights.com/place/eagle-falls-skykomish-skykomish.md) (Skykomish, WA) - Eagle Falls is a powerful cascade on the South Fork Skykomish River, dropping approximately 25 feet through a rock channel near Stevens Pass. --- Page: https://www.pnwsights.com/place/eightmile-lake-leavenworth/ · [All parks & wilderness in the Pacific Northwest](https://www.pnwsights.com/parks.md) · [PNWSights home](https://www.pnwsights.com/index.md)