Takhlakh Lake

The most exciting memory from my 2 week long roadtrip around Oregon and Washington! Every stunning picture you've ever seen of this place is real! It looks exactly like that in real life!

The last 13 miles to Takhlakh Lake from Trout Lake are unpaved, dirt roads, and I think 15-20 miles of dirt roads from the lake to Randle as well. It wasn't too rough, but it is a very small, quite isolated dirt road going up a mountain, so it is a little nerve wracking. Have a safe car with good tires, and plenty of confidence, and you'll do fine!! Have a decent GPS or download offline maps from Google or Maps.me, because there are a few turns you'll need to take. Fill up your gas tank before you leave civilization!

Almost as soon as you turn onto 141 in White Salmon, you get an unobstructed view of Mt. Adams, with Mt. Hood in your rearview mirror. I couldn't believe how gorgeous the lake was, once I arrived. I figured all the pictures on Google were shot with professional cameras or tweaked on Photoshop, but no. You will be astounded that this place is real. I visited in September, and there was a couple in a boat, and two couples came and went without disturbing me There are sweet little ducks and very mischievous birds and chipmunks!!! I was having a picnic, and a huge black bird literally flew down and took a piece of my sandwich off of my plate. I dropped a piece of chicken on the ground, and 3 or 4 chipmunks came out of nowhere and fought over it, and then they didn't leave me alone the rest of the time I was there, going as far as to climb on my lap and try to get into my bags. There was a very loud hum of mosquitos, but I was not too bothered by them. They were not a problem at the picnic area, but once I started walking around the lake, they started to come out and buzz me.

If you're not planning on camping, I highly recommend carving out an entire day to drive there, stay there for a LONG time, and get back to civilization before it gets too dark. I only had 2 hours at the lake, and it was the most heartbreaking thing to have leave this wonderful place.

Check
https://www.fs.usda.gov/recarea/giffordpinchot/recarea/?recid=31432
for road conditions and status of campground before you go. Also check weather conditions before going. I would not want to be on that dirt road in the rain!!