Lanham Lake Snowshoe (Stevens Pass/Nordic Center)

Starting at 3000 feet (and just 3 miles past the Stevens Pass ski resort at the parking lot for the Nordic Center) you will snowshoe through the forest for awhile before you break into an open area. You'll see power lines - cross under them and back into the forest. This is a great time to take a break and check out the surrounding snow covered hills!

After this you'll go back and forth between flat areas and semi-difficult uphill jaunts (they are short but they are burners). This replaces the switchbacks you'd normally encounter on a trail like this. However, if it's cold out (like it was for us - 12 degrees) the uphill is painful but warms you up, so it's worth it. At the top the trees will open up to the frozen lake (covered in snow). We got there just in time to see the sun set over the hill (around 2:30pm on New Year's Day).

It took us about 2 hours to go up, taking lots of water and photo breaks and about an hour to get back down. We took our time and enjoyed ourselves. An avid snowshoe hiker could probably make it in 1.5 hours. I recommend taking it slow and enjoying the silence and breathtaking beauty. We encountered only a few others on the trail.