Miles: 4.5+ miles (up to 9 if you walk the entire rim and loop back on the closed canyon road)
Elevation Gain/Highest: 730ft/3530ft
Map: Green Trails Twisp No 84
My favorite places to stop post hike with friends are 5 B’s Bakery, Bird’s View Brewing Company, The Mazama Store, Methow Valley Cider House, Glover Street Market, or just Pack A Cooler. You can learn more about these places in my Must Hike Must Eat Eating Out Guide.
Find out current conditions and as always, practice Leave No Trace. Pretty please.
Hike details:
Pipestone Canyon offers a undulating rim and canyon trail loop through arid terrain outside Winthrop, Washington that is accessible most of the year. From either Lester Road, Campbell Road or the gate at Pipestone Canyon Road, you can wander up and along the rim of this open canyon. Take time to gaze out at a 360 panoramic view of a sea of tawny swales, over at the jagged Sawtooth Mountains or back at the snowy peaks of the North Cascades.
Spring offers green slopes carpeted with lupine and balsamroot, fall provides amber waves of grass and cooler temperatures. There is no water besides the lake itself, so bring enough to drink along with sun protection as the trail is fully exposed. You may hear coyote howling in the distance or see soaring Golden eagles around the rocky outcroppings.
My trip report:
10/17/2021
Got hunter orange?
I knew when we took off for our annual Cascade Loop weekend, it was smart to throw in a little of that lifesaving bright orange. Someone had posted on FB about firearm deer season opening this weekend!
So, I was not surprised to see the multitude of hunter camps when we arrived at the junction for Campbell Lake and my husband was calculating if he had any bright colors to tie on his own pack (he luckily had a bright stuff sack he tied on a pole and gave it a waving spot on his pack).
Needless to say, the fall colors were beautiful and we only saw two other people on the trail: an older gentleman right out of a Ira Springs guidebook and a camo-laden, rifle toting young man with his own orange vest (we saw plenty of orange on the surrounding hills). Should we have picked another hike? Maybe. Was it nice to basically have the trail to ourselves? Definitely.
No larches here BUT plenty of quaking aspen around Campbell Lake. We did the same route as last time, parking near Campbell Lake, taking the trail that starts at the southern end and goes around the lake to gain the ridge. The trail is still a mess here due to erosion so there is a bit of route finding needed through the aspen at the lake but there are enough footprints to follow.
Once up on the ridge, we kept right and strolled for about 2 miles to where the trail begins to descend again. I always debate making the entire loop of 9 miles but then I tell myself there are good treats in Winthrop to be had so I turned around while the hubby dropped down to the road (his knees are better than mine). He later reported he spotted the above hiker also making the same maneuver. After the hunter we chatted with told us he had seen two other hunters just below the ridge gutting their catch, I was even more reluctant to leave the trail even with my orange on.
I lost the trail a little bit on the return near the lake and was a tiny bit nervous bushwhacking until I found it. But the hubs reported he could tell I was not a deer just fine despite the leafy camouflage.
Never a dull moment out in nature!
11/1/2020, my GAIA
We were a little late in our annual Cascade Loop weekend so we opted to not chase past-their-prime larches but continue the year’s theme of lesser known outdoor spaces. My husband saw this hike on a geocaching site and after checking here on WTA, we figured it was worth visiting.
Rising early from car camping at Leader Lake (the loss of Daylight Saving Time helped with that), we drove up to Winthrop and arrived at Campbell Lake a little after 7am. We parked at the boat launch which was empty and made use of the clean port-a-potty there. A coyote barked up on the ridge as we layered up in the chilly morning air.
Rather than drive down to the end of the road, we took the side trail that starts up from the end of the lake (more like a pond). It is hard to see until you begin up the slope, continuing back about half along the lake. There has been a good size slide where it is supposed to take up a gully and weaving through vegetation was necessary to find the trail, The junction with the trail coming from Lester Road was .4 miles from Campbell Lake Road.
Turning right, the trail gains elevation slightly, navigating a few deep washouts before leveling off on the ridge. The amber grass was frosty white as the sun began to rise over the horizon and our footsteps were crunchy on the frozen trail.
Keeping right at junctions in the beginning, we walked the undulating ridge for about 1.8 miles to a high point at about 3530 feet (2.25 miles from the car) before turning around and retracing our steps. The views were expansive and the rock formations glowed with the morning sun. We were shedding layers for sure by the time we were walking back.
The largest cliff wall was only about a mile from our car so not a far walk overall. We had the trail to ourselves until we were almost back to the car, several groups walking in from Lester Rd and one from Campbell Lake.
We drove down to the end of the road were it is gated to look up at the cliff wall from below. It was nice but the views are better from the ridge. Three more cars pulled in, it would seem that 10 AM is rush hour at Pipestone Canyon. Our trek was 4.5 miles round trip but you could easily wander on either side of the rim on old tire tracks in the grass or the closed Pipestone Canyon Road below for extra miles.
Directions: From the main intersection in Winthrop, take Bridge Street (or simply stay straight if coming from the west through town on SR 20) one block then turn right on Castle Ave past Pine Near RV Park and drive for two miles (turns into East Twisp-Winthrop Rd). Turn left onto Bear Creek Road (at golf course sign) and after 2.3 miles, turn right on Lester Road which leaves the pavement. Follow this road to a junction with Campbell Lake Rd. You can park here where the Discover Pass signs are on the fence or turn right on Campbell Lake Rd. There is parking and a privy at the boat launch or more parking just a bit further where the road ends at another parking lot and cattle gate. Discover Pass is needed.
East Twisp-Winthrop Road can also be picked up if coming from Twisp and the east.
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