This Oregon bucket list hike leads to No Name Lake, a sparkling turquoise pool in the Three Sisters Wilderness

When hikers look across the Central Cascades skyline, it’s easy to pick out Broken Top as a bucket list trek. But the summit is not the only worthy destination on the mountain. Tucked between the jagged basalt peaks and moraines is No Name Lake, a turquoise gem popping out from the surrounding black rock.

What sets this lake apart is not just its distinctive color, but also its quiet solitude hidden in a valley of late summer wildflowers, its seasonal floating icebergs — sometimes all the way into August — and, of course, the rewarding hike it takes to get there.

The best time to make this Three Sisters Wilderness hike is July through mid-October, when the access roads and trail are mostly free of snow. The shortest route to get to No Name Lake is only 5.5 miles round trip with 1,400 feet of elevation gain and begins at Broken Top Trailhead. However, the forest road to access this start point is notoriously rough and requires a high-clearance, all-wheel drive vehicle.

Todd Lake Trailhead is a great alternative, as long as hikers are comfortable with the mileage increasing to 13 miles round trip and about 2,500 feet of elevation gain. Backpacking in this area is also an option, as long as campers do not set up their tents within a quarter of a mile of the lake.

The route from Todd Lake starts out in shady pine forest before crossing through wide open alpine meadows and over sparkling clear creeks. The final one- to two-mile stretch, after it meets with the Broken Top Trail, gets much steeper and rockier as it heads up onto the flank of the extinct volcano.

According to Oregon Glaciers Institute, No Name Lake is all that remains of East Bend Glacier, which carved out the basin where the body of water is located. The bright blue color of the water is caused by fine silt, or “rock flour,” that was created by the glacier’s movement across the mountain. Suspended in the water, the rock flour absorbs the shortest light waves — indigo and purple — and reflects back green and light blue.

If you go, be prepared with a Central Cascades Wilderness Permit from recreation.gov, plus lots of water and leashes for your four legged friends. If you are coming from out of the area, be sure to check on local fire and smoke conditions before hitting the trail.

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– Haley Nelson