page_title: Indian Heaven
section_title: Recreation
hierarchical_section_title: Indian Heaven / Recreation
caption_attribution_description: English: One of the Race Track Lakes near the Indian Racetrack in the Indian Heaven Wilderness, Washington.
context_page_description: Indian Heaven is a volcanic field in Skamania County in the state of Washington, in the United States. Midway between Mount St. Helens and Mount Adams, the field dates from the Pleistocene to the early Holocene epoch. It trends north to south and is dominated by six small shield volcanoes; these shields are topped by small spatter and cinder cones, and the field includes a number of subglacial volcanoes and tuyas. The northernmost peak in the field is Sawtooth Mountain and the southernmost is Red Mountain; its highest point is Lemei Rock at an elevation of 5,925 feet.
  Indian Heaven features both polygenetic and monogenetic volcanic activity; many of its volcanoes have only erupted once before coming extinct, while others have erupted several times. Approximately 50 eruptive centers lie within the Indian Heaven field, which also has approximately 40 lava flows. The field's eruptive output totals 14 to 19 cubic miles, with sporadic activity taking place for the past 700,000 years. The last volcanic activity in the field produced a large cinder cone, Big Lava Bed, as well as a voluminous lava and scoria flows about 9,000 years ago.
context_section_description: Within the Indian Heaven Wilderness, visitors can fish in lakes and ponds, hike, backpack, ride horses, and view wildlife.
  A popular trail is the Indian Heaven loop, which runs for 10 miles (16 km) from the Cultus Creek campground. Following the Indian Heaven Trail to Deep Trail and then Lemei Lake Trail, it passes through meadows and lakes to join the Pacific Crest Trail before it returns to the Cultus Creek campground where it starts. After the climb from the final paved road to enter the wilderness area, which lasts about 2 miles (3.2 km), hiking in Indian Heaven is relatively undemanding. However, trails can vary in difficulty for horseback riders and hikers.
  The Lake Wapiki trail, 9.6 miles (15.4 km) in length, gains 2,500 feet (760 m) in elevation and provides scenic views of Mount Adams and Mount Rainier. The Blue Lake trail in the Indian Heaven wilderness area runs for 3.25 miles (5.23 km); together with the Lemei Lake Trail, it forms a loop that last 12.3 miles (19.8 km). A moderate hike, it offers views of lakes, ponds, meadows, and forests, as well as access to popular fishing lakes like Dee Lake, Heather Lake, Thomas Lake, and Eunice Lake. These lakes are also popular swimming spots, particularly among hikers with children. Before it merges with the Pacific Crest Trail, the route arrives at the Blue Lake, which has a depth of 46 feet (14 m) and marks the deepest lake within the entire wilderness. Blue Lake was carved by glacial motion. 
  One of the most popular camping spots is the Goose Lake Campground, which is frequented by fishermen, boaters, and swimmers. Operated by the United States Forest Service, the campground remains open from July through October. A designated camp site near Thomas and Blue Lakes within the wilderness was created by wilderness managers for the Gifford Pinchot National Forest, with the hope that it would mitigate resource damage in high use area and focus visitor use impact to smaller, more compact areas.
caption: A small lake within the Indian Heaven wilderness.
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