Countless woodsy lakes lie hiding on the slope between Diamond Peak and Willamette Pass. You can discover some of the best by hiking the Pacific Crest Trail and the adjacent Trapper Creek Trail. For an easy walk, head for Midnight Lake on the PCT. For a longer, more adventurous tour, take the Trapper Creek Trail up to Yoran Lake. Then, if you don’t mind bushwhacking a few hundred yards, you can return on a loop along the PCT past half a dozen wilderness ponds.

For the easy walk to Midnight Lake, drive . . .

If you’re interested in a longer hike that . . .

This chapter is an excerpt from 100 Hikes : Central Oregon Cascades