Washington trails · Mt Defiance

Mt Defiance

A 6.1-mile out-and-back in Washington, with 1,525 ft of climbing. Reaches Rainbow Lake and other lake/summit/viewpoint destinations. Managed by the U.S. Forest Service.

Open in the interactive map →

Length

6.1 mi

Elevation gain

1,525 ft

Difficulty

Hard

Max grade

37%

Steepest mile

+906 ft

Tread at ≥10% grade

3.2 mi

Shape

out-and-back

Bikes

Horses

yes

Managed by

U.S. Forest Service

Elevation profile

The climbing leans toward the first third: 50% of the ascent falls between mile 0.0 and mile 2.0. It gives back about 1,558 ft along the way, so it rolls rather than climbing steadily.

3-D terrain

USGS 3DEP ELEVATION × ESRI WORLD IMAGERY · VERTICAL ×1.5

Reaches

Rainbow Lake (lake)
Island Lakes (lake)
Mount Defiance (summit)
Little Mason Lake (lake)
Blazer Lake (lake)
Thompson Lake (lake)
Little Kulla Lake (lake)
Mason Lake (lake)
Spider Valley view (viewpoint)

Heads up

Terrain graded T2 (SAC scale).

Getting there

Mt Defiance access. 47.45492, -121.59084 · directions

Daylight at the trailhead

On August 31, 2026 — the day this page was generated — first light reaches this trailhead at 5:51 a.m., the sun rises at 6:23 a.m. and sets at 7:48 p.m., and the last usable light fades about 8:20 p.m. (PDT) — 13 h 25 min of daylight. At about 2.7 mph plus 30 minutes per 1,000 feet of climbing, the 12.2-mile round trip takes roughly 6 h 02 min, so leaving the trailhead at sunrise puts you back around 12:25 p.m. — 7 h 24 min before sunset.

Loop options

Thompson Lake + Mt Defiance — 1.9 mi loop, 817 ft gain