Icicle Ridge Trailhead — Attraction in Leavenworth

Great hike with some fun switchbacks traversing a steep climb. Plan on 1.5 to 2.5 hours for the ascent. An hour for the highly fit. View on top is spectacular with the central Cascades well presented.

The city of Leavenworth and its Bavarian downtown are in good view with the agricultural valley bisected by the winding river in the distance. I recommend a very early start to beat the crowds and to have the top to yourself or shared with just a few other like-minded explorers.

The descent is of course the harsher trip as it is easy to forget the impact force on your joints. Some parts of the path are narrow and you will be on the downhill side so exercise caution when passing others.

Don't forget to pause and look and listen as you go up and down to varied flora and fauna that changes both with elevation and light/shade. Great photo opportunities...

Im 6'1", 250lbs (fat not muscle) and hadn't hiked for 6-8 months. Going up took me 2hrs and 5 mins with probably around 6 breaks. Coming down took me 1hr and 12 mins with 1 break but I was trying to meet a time hack. The first 1/4 of the trail is a gentle rise and shouldn't be an issue for anyone. Once you get about 1/3 to halfway through, the trail maintains its steepness (2nd set of switch backs) virtually all the way through until the top. The path also gets very narrow in places, so watch where you step. I encountered runners, families, people with their dogs, and there's just enough room to slip by if you're strategic and polite. I also didn't plan accordingly (drinking lots of water the entire day before to prep for the hike, only drinking water the day of) and ended up drinking 1 litre on my way up because I was...

This is a gorgeous out-and-back hike! Not the easiest one, though. The trail is a bunch of switchbacks that elevates you to a gorgeous ridge - Leavenworth town & other Cascade mountains on the east, Wenatchee river and other Cascade Mountains on the west and more of the other Cascade mountains all around! 🙂 You can hear the river roaring even from high up on the ridge!

This is my second time hiking this trail - there were quite a handful of people on the trail even on a Wednesday afternoon! While parking was plenty when we arrived, I expect that it fills up quickly over the weekends!

The spring wildflowers had wilted for the most part on the way up; however, on the ridge, the flowers were in full bloom and were gorgeous!!

One thing to note though - there are snakes in the undergrowth throughout the trail - so watch...