Royal Basin, Olympic National Park, Washington
Royal Basin
Olympic National Park
Royal Lake lies at the foot of a capacious alpine valley holding a spectacular collection of tarns, glaciers and 7,000' peaks collectively called Royal Basin. The hike begins in the Olympic National Forest on the Dungeness River Trail before departing up Royal Creek to the lake. It continues above Royal Lake into the Upper Basin, where you'll find a network of meadows, waterfalls, glaciers, and tarns.
| Related Trails: | Royal Basin |
The Upper Basin Trail scales a deep alpine valley to reach the glacial tarns
Glaciers grind rock into a fine, mineral-rich flour that gives tarns a milky blue color
Royal Lake (5,107') lies at the foot of Royal Basin
Streams with brook trout oxbow through a large meadow behind Royal Lake
Various lupine species fill the marshy inlet to Royal Lake
The Upper Basin is dotted with tarns beneath dozens of glaciers
The main trail continues south of Royal Lake into a large meadow
Glaciers grind rock into a fine, mineral-rich flour that gives tarns a milky blue color
A vast alpine meadow lies between Royal Lake and the Upper Basin
Much of the first 3 miles feature a thin, iridescent moss carpeting the forest floor
This popular tarn is located .95 miles and 590' up from Royal Lake
The trail levels to a fork in the Upper Basin where you may branch to various attractions
A glacier is a perennial mass of snow or ice that's large and heavy enough to flow, like a thick gel
Royal Basin holds the highest concentration of 7,000' peaks in the Olympics
Glaciers form where more snow accumulates than is lost each year
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