Tipsoo Lake is located near Chinook Pass along SR 410 on the eastern edge of the park. The wayside is along the road on the southern side of the lake.
NPS Photo
Wayside Title: The Shortest Season
Wayside Main Text
Winter maintains a strong grip on this landscape. With blasting winds and more than eight months of snow, the Chinook Pass area would not seem hospitable to plant life. Yet, in a compressed growing season, wildflowers transform the scene. Walk the trail around the lakes and look for meadow plants' adaptions to the short growing season in the subalpine environment. Thick leaves with tiny hairs are designed to retain heat and moisture. By growing in clusters, some plants create their own windbreaks.
Tipsoo Lake Wayside panel
NPS Photo
Wayside Panel Description
The main wayside text stretches across the top fourth of the wayside panel against a plain green background. To the right of the text, a circular graphic crossed with a black slash shows a boot stepping on a wildflower. Text next to the graphic reads "Protect Fragile Meadows. Stay on Trails." Underneath the main text, the main photo takes up the left side of the wayside panel. A caption in the upper left corner of the photo reads "Tipsoo Lake and subalpine wildflowers in bloom". The photo shows lush green meadows wrapping around a shallow lake. In the foreground, the meadow is filled with blooming yellow wildflowers, and wildflowers bloom throughout the meadows. On the far side of the lake, the meadows give way to forested hillsides and a rocky peak rising above the lake. On the right side of the wayside panel, two photos overlap slightly at an angle. The top photo, captioned "Western Anemone", shows a patch of wildflowers with fuzzy leaves and large cream-colored blooms. The bottom photo, captioned "Magenta Indian Paintbrush", shows three wildflowers that each have a single stalk with green leaves that turn bright pink at the top of the stalk. A small box in the lower right corner of the panel reads "User Fee Project. Your Fee Dollars at Work. Entrance fees were used to produce this exhibit".
