Seven Devils Mountains, Idaho - He Devil Summit Loop Hike in Hells Canyon

15.6 mile loop hike to summit of He Devil (9,393'), the highest peak in the Seven Devils Mountains, Idaho. The Seven Devils Mountains are part of the Hells Canyon Wilderness, and Hells Canyon National Recreation Area, and is managed by the Wallowa-Whitman National Forest.

There are many backpacking opportunities in the Hells Canyon Wilderness, but the Seven Devils Mountains are home to the highest peaks in the area and the most impressive mountain landscapes along the Snake River on the Idaho/Oregon border.

From SummitPost - "The Seven Devils Mountains extend along the Idaho/Oregon border for about 50 miles roughly between the Idaho towns of Whitebird and Council. The Snake River through Hells Canyon forms the west boundary and the Salmon and Little Salmon rivers bound the east. The range is one of the more rugged of Idaho’s mountain chains and is probably the state's most precipitous with elevations varying from just above 1,000 feet at the Snake River to 9,420 feet at the summit of He Devil. He Devil is one of three peaks in Idaho with over 5,000 feet of prominence. The vertical rise of approximately 8,000 feet in eight horizontal miles from the bottom of Hells Canyon is the highest in the state. He Devil and adjacent She Devil are basically equal in height but have never been officially triangulated. Most books and maps incorrectly list them at 9,393 feet and 9,280 feet respectively, though USGS quad maps show both exceeding the 9,400 contour. Though He Devil appears slightly higher of the two, it is possible that She Devil is the highest.

The central portion of the range contains the highest and most rugged mountains. These are cleverly named the likes of He Devil, She Devil, The Ogre, Tower of Babel, Twin Imps, The Goblin, Devils Throne and Devils Tooth. A 27 mile long loop trail encircles this spectacular area making for a tremendous extended hike with many hiking and scrambling opportunities."

July 2021 - We began our He Devil peak summit hike at Windy Saddle. The Seven Devils Campground is 1/4 mile away and makes a great (free) camping spot before or after your Seven Devils Mountains hike or backpacking trip.

From Windy Saddle, we begin a counter-clockwise loop hike to the He Devil summit. We drop down into East Fork Sheep Creek, through a large burn area, then ascend a ridgeline separating East and West Fork Sheep Creeks. We hike down to West Fork Sheep Creek and hike up to a chain of small lakes: Lilly Pad Lake, Basin Lake, Shelf Lake, Gem Lake, Rock Island Lake and Appendix Lake. We have our first wildlife sighting here, a mountain goat.

We leave the trail above Appendix Lake and begin the Ascent to He Devil peak. The ridgeline of the Seven Devils Mountains is impressive, offering sweeping views over Hells Canyon, the deepest gorge in the US. However, forest fire smoke limits our views on this hike. Still, the summit view from He Devil is outstanding.

We descend He Devil peak along the same route we took up, but now drop down to Sheep Lake to begin forming our loop. We hike the southeast side of sheep lake and find a steep, faded old trail leading to an unnamed pass above Mirror Lake. We then hike down to Seven Devils Lake and back to Windy Saddle to complete our loop hike to the summit of He Devil. Hiking in the Seven Devils Mountains is excellent!

Read more about the Seven Devils Mountains, Idaho He Devil Summit Hike here: https://seekinglost.com/seven-devils-...

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