Carrie and I were spending the weekend at a work party being held at the YMCA Camp at Horsethief Reservoir. As I typically do, I wanted to find a hike nearby. A quick search led me to a summit called Eagle Nest about 7 miles from where we were camped.

Eagle Nest is a prominent peak located northeast of Cascade, Idaho. While the peak doesn't offer tremendous views, the top is interesting in that it contains a tree that supports a large wood platform on top where fire lookouts would sit and monitor the surrounding area. You can still see the platform, the archaic ladder leading to it, and several other remnants from the time when the lookout was in use.

We were fortunate to hike to the peak on a cool, partly cloudy day. It has rained the previous day, so it was quite humid. The trail is in great shape leading to the base of the peak (after approximately 2 miles of hiking). Once southeast of the peak, leave the trail and climb the final 500 feet to the summit. The terrain has some dead-fall down low, but eventually opens higher up.

After scrambling to a few potential high points on the summit plateau, we found the infamous "crow's nest" atop the large tree. Also found were a bed, a building foundation, and other odds and ends like cans and broken pottery.

On the way down we descended nearly due east and caught the trail there.

All-in-all, not the greatest peak ever, but very accessible and the historical items on top are very interesting!

Driving north out of Cascade, you will cross the Payette River. Soon after you will take a right onto Warm Lake Road. Follow the Warm Lake Road for 5.5 miles, then turn left onto the signed Eagle Nest - Gold Fork River Road. Follow this road for 4.8 miles. There is a parking spot on the left side of the road. You can clearly see the trail ascending on the right hand side of the road.

The trail that leads you to the edge of Eagle Nest is part of a bigger mountain biking trail. Since we were just day hiking, we started up the trail near the 6643AT marker on the Eagle Nest quad.

Follow the good trail until you are just about due east of Eagle Nest, then head cross-country to the top of the peak. There is some deadfall down low, but eventually the forest thins and the going becomes easier.