Hiking Huntoon Point in the Mount Baker Wilderness Area
Contents
Huntoon Point Hike Information
Difficulty: Easy
Distance: 6.00Km (3.7 Miles)
Elevation Gain: 300m (984 Ft.)
Highest Elevation: 1,588m (5,210 Ft.)
Average Gradient: 10.00%
Effort/Reward Ratio: Low / High
Time Needed:
– Slow: 3 – 4 Hours
– Moderate: 2 – 3 Hours
– Fast: 1.5 – 2 Hours
Dogs Permitted?: Yes
Season: Year-Round (Winter Preferred)
4×4 / High Clearance Required? No
Scrambling / Exposure: None
Huntoon Point Trail
The below coordinates lead to the winter trailhead, in the summer continue driving all the way to Artist Point
Trailhead Coordinates: 48°51’42.2″N 121°40’58.4″W
Disclaimer: Winter hiking (snowshoeing) involves significantly more risk than summer hiking. Hikers should be prepared with appropriate education, training and equipment for all possibilities, including but not limited to avalanches. A mistake such as going off trail, getting lost or injured can be far more dangerous in winter than summer. You are responsible for your own safety, and while I am happy to give my opinion on this website as to the avalanche risk of a specific hike, do not take this as fact and please do your own research. Everybody has different risk tolerances and mine might be different to yours.
Huntoon Point Overview
Huntoon Point is an easily accessed summit located in the Mount Baker wilderness area in Washington. Thanks to the winding Mount Baker Highway and the nearby ski resort, in the summer hikers are able to park at Artist Point at a full 1,550m elevation. From here Huntoon Point is a short walk (2.4km) with minimal elevation (~50m), arguably making this more of a tourist destination than a hike.
In the winter, parking is only possible further down the highway near the Bagley Lake trail and Heather Meadows Lodge. This increases the hike distance to around 6km and 300m elevation gain, making for a very pleasant and straightforward snowshoe / ski tour.
Huntoon Point offers frankly incredible views given the low effort it takes to get there, it is certainly one of the highest effort / reward hikes I can say I’ve ever completed. The vantage point looking towards Mount Shuksan and Mount Baker is really special.
Most people will complete this hike in summer, perhaps as part of a longer outing including one of the other nearby trails such as the extremely popular Chain Lakes Loop. However it’s perfectly manageable as a year-round trip and makes for a very rewarding snowshoe even for beginners. It should be noted that in winter chains are mandatory for all vehicles driving up the Mount Baker Highway. Huntoon Point is also dog friendly.
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Is Huntoon Point worthwhile?
As noted the effort / reward on Huntoon Point is very high, with amazing views before you even get out of the car. The only real downside to this is that the hike is so short you might question whether the drive out is really worthwhile. In the summer it will literally take 30 minutes, in the winter you might stretch it out to a couple of hours. There are plenty of options to extend the hike, especially in the summer when the Chain Lakes trail or Table Mountain trail are accessible, however in the winter any further travel immediately enters pretty serious avalanche terrain.
How difficult is the hike to Huntoon Point?
In the summer this is obviously an incredibly easy hike, in fact it’s barely a hike at all, it’s a quick stretch of the legs.
In the winter it’s a little bit more involved, but still a short and relatively simple hike. The only real challenge in the winter will be navigation as you’ll have to park further down the highway and snow will cover any trails or roads. You can follow the groomed ski resort paths for a portion of the hike but eventually you’ll enter the backcountry and follow the abundance of backcountry ski touring tracks towards Artist Point. Then it’s just a case of following the short ridge over to Huntoon Point. A map would be worthwhile in winter given the self-navigation.
Huntoon Point Route Information
Winter
The parking in winter will be at the Bagley Lakes trailhead (see coordinates) near Heather Meadows Lodge. There is a lot of parking here but it is also a very popular place so I would advise an early start on a sunny weekend.
Given snow will be around, locating the trailhead will be your first task. Thankfully it’s not too difficult as it’s right at the southern end of the parking area and should be quite obvious with skiers coming and going, all the while donning and doffing gear.
The next 1.5km or so will follow the groomed ski resort trails and you very well might get away without even putting your snowshoes on at this point as the trail will be compact. Most of this will be mellow, but once you reach Terminal Lake the gradient picks up and becomes quite steep. Skiers bypass this by going out of bounds and zigzagging up adjacent to the resort track, but on foot you should manage to stay on the groomed trail.
As you crest the top of this steep section you’ll reach a fence noting that you’re about to enter the backcountry, likely with a sign warning of avalanche risk. The groomed trail will continue in a loop going away from this signage, but you want to now leave the groomed trail and enter the backcountry. There will likely be an abundance of ski/snowshoe tracks from here on either way so navigation should still be reasonably fine (though you should still have a map).
Depending on snow levels you may want to put your snowshoes on here, if you haven’t already, but if there’s been a long period of no snow you may also get away without using them (microspikes would still be warranted though).
From now on the route should be obvious as all the trail users converge to the same direction. The route will continue climbing gradually before navigating around a steep hill. After a brief, moderately steep climb you’ll gain the ridge leading to Huntoon Point, which is where the summer trail begins, as noted below.
Summer
The summer trail begins from a parking lot at the very end of Mount Baker Highway. This is known as Artist Point, an apt name given the stunning views. Even before making the hike over to Huntoon Point you will already have amazing views of Mount Baker, Mount Shuksan and Table Mountain, with the expansive valley below Mount Baker on full display.
Following the obvious trail southeast (in winter there will almost certainly be ski/snowshoe tracks) along what’s known as Kulshan Ridge, you meander up and down some mellow terrain to the base of a steep climb at the end. You’ll wrap around to the east of Huntoon Point where the gradient mellows out a little, before climbing briefly up to the high point. The views of Mount Shuksan and Mount Baker will be amazing from this vantage. There are a few trails around the summit that you can explore, otherwise you can chill out and soak it in.
Once finished you simply return to the trailhead the same way you came.
When should I hike Huntoon Point?
Most people will go to Huntoon Point in the summer, making this an incredibly easy stroll. In the winter it’s still an easy hike but becomes a little more involved, likely requiring snowshoes and some self navigation to reach the summit. Either way this is an extremely rewarding hike for little effort. Obviously I would suggest going on a day with guaranteed clear skies as the views will be significantly subdued with cloud coverage.
Top Tip
In the summer you might want to add on the Chain Lakes trail or Table Mountain to make for a longer, more worthwhile outing. Unfortunately in the winter both of these pass through significant amounts of avalanche terrain. Table Mountain especially is treacherous.
If you want to extend your outing in the winter you could potentially check out the Bagley Lakes area, which would involve returning to the trailhead and taking another trail in that direction. On low risk days, experienced and prepared parties with avalanche training can optionally complete the Table Mountain Circumnavigation. This offers amazing views but does go through avalanche terrain.
