SEVEN LAKES BASIN TRAIL

Length 1.1mi/1.8 km 
Access Bogachiel Trail 
USGS Map Bogachiel Peak 
Agency Olympic National Park

The access trail leading to Seven Lakes Basin begins at a gap (4900 ft/ 1494 m) 
in the Soleduck-Bogachiel Divide, west of Bogachiel Peak, where it branches from 
the Bogachiel Trail, 3.4mi/5.5 km beyond Deer Lake.

The trail climbs a bit through sandstone boulders, where it is often partly covered 
with snow. (Hikers should not be misled by what appears to be a trail leading up a 
chute to the right. This is a false lead; an abrupt cliff is on the other side.) 
The path ascends to a notch in the ridge that overlooks Seven Lakes Basin, and 
then descends into the basin itself, first to Lunch Lake (0.9 mi/1.4 km; 4400 ft/
1341 m), then to Round Lake (1.1 mi/1.8 km; 4300 ft/1311 m). The ranger station 
is located on a knoll above Lunch Lake.

Seven Lakes Basin is irregular in shape, about two and a half miles long by a mile 
wide, covering approximately 1600 acres, and surrounded by rocky peaks. The basin 
contains more lakes than most areas in the Olympics, and thick beds of sandstone 
underlie it. The altitude ranges from 3700 to 4600 ft (1128 to 1402 m). Because 
the basin receives heavy snowfall during the winter, the lakes do not thaw until 
late in the season-usually in July, sometimes in August. This is a popular area, 
and people have wandered from lake to lake; thus they have created a multitude of 
way paths in the basin.

Chris Morgenroth named the basin about the turn of the century. He was a pioneer 
settler on the peninsula who served as a ranger during the early years of the 
Olympic National Forest. When he viewed the glacier-scoured basin from a distance, 
he counted seven glittering lakes. Actually, they number about a dozen, not counting 
pools and ponds, and range in size from little potholes up to lakes about 400 yards 
long. They are known for Eastern brook, cutthroat, and rainbow trout.

Soleduck Lake, at 31 acres, is the largest. Other named ones includes Morgenroth, 
Long, Clear, Number Eight, Lunch, Round, and No Name. Three small tarns are located 
in the upper basin, at the base of Bogachiel Peak, but none contains fish. Mark 
Wilder, the backcountry ranger at that time, named two in the early 1970s. He called 
the western one Mirror Lake because it reflects the surrounding ridges; the eastern 
one, Question Mark Lake because it always assumes that form when the ice melts. The 
pool in the middle is known as Chuck's Hole, in honor of Charles N. Connor of Port 
Townsend. Mirror Lake is also called Y Lake.