The Lakes:
Tank Lakes are located in the Alpine Lakes Wilderness Area. These lakes rest on a rocky alpine flat with perennial snowfields and scattered evergreens, with stunning views of Summit Chief, Chimney Rock, and Overcoat Peak across the valley.

Route options:
There is no maintained trail to Tank Lakes, but the lakes can be reached via easy cross-country from a few different directions. This area is often passed by parties doing variations of the (1) Alpine Lakes High Route, in which case the approach typically starts on the Lake Dorothy Trail off the Miller River Road off HWY 2 and comes up to Tank Lakes after Chetwood Lake and Iron Cap Pass. Two popular one-day approaches are (2) via Necklace Valley on the East Fork Foss River Trail off the Foss River Road from HWY 2 and (3) via the Dutch Miller Trail off the Middle Fork Snoqualmie River Road from I-90.

Necklace Valley Approach:
I have always approached Tank Lakes via Necklace Valley, as we did on these particular trips. The trailhead (1660 ft) is easily accessed from HWY 2 near Skykomish at about 4.5 miles up Foss River Road. The East Fork Foss River Trail takes you 8.3 miles and 3100 ft to the head of Necklace Valley. From there, Tank Lakes can be accessed via about 1 mile and 1000 ft of cross-country hiking.