Fire and Ice Trail

The Fire and Ice Trail at Mt. Baker National Forest near Glacier, Washington is an easy 0.6-mile loop trail that features stunning alpine views of Table Mountain, its glacier, and the Bagley Lakes below.

Hike the Fire and Ice Trail

This hike begins at the Heather Meadows visitor center parking lot where the trail can be picked up from a couple of different points. This route begins near the restroom area and follows the paved, universally-accessible portion of the loop counter-clockwise first.

From the trailhead out to mile 0.2, you'll beautiful alpine views of Table Mountain with the backdrop of Mount Baker on clear days. During snow melt season and after period of rainfall, you'll likely find a massive waterfall tumbling down the southern slopes of Mount Herman to the north. And in the valley below sits the Bagley Lakes which are formed by snow and glacial melt from the higher elevations. Even if there's snow on the ground, the views of the mountains and dark-blue Bagley Lakes is well-worth a visit.

The pavement and universally-accessible portion of the trail ends around mile 0.2 as it follows a dirt path that circles around Terminal Lake. The trail dips into a small valley, passing Terminal Lake, and then ascends back to the parking lot for a short and easy 0.6-mile loop.

Universal Access

This trail is partially universally-accessible. From the parking lot out to mile 0.19 / 0.2 near the overlook for the Bagley Lakes is accessible and follows a paved path.

Parking

Hikers will find a large parking lot at the coordinates provided, located near the Heather Meadows visitor center. The lot is large enough to fit several dozen vehicles as of June 2025. Depending on the time of year that you visit, the parking lot may not be accessible to vehicles.

Pets

Dogs are allowed only if leashed and must be cleaned up after.

Seasonal Road Closures

The Mt. Baker Highway is subject to seasonal road closures. Before heading out, make sure you check current road statuses which can be found https://www.fs.usda.gov/r06/mbs/alerts. Another thing to note is that in the late spring and early summer, you will likely need to hike through the snow via the Heather Meadows & Bagley Lakes Hike to reach this trail.

Warning

Snowpack: If you plan to hike this trail when there's a few feet of snowpack on the ground, be aware of a couple of things. First, postholing is real, you don't want to be trudging through hip-deep snow full of pockets. Last, the snowpack near Terminal Lake can be more dangerous than it looks as the snow melt from higher elevations flows down into Terminal Lake, making for more dangerous potential to posthole into pockets of deep wet snow or even temporary creeks.