Head east out of Kamas on the Mirror Lake Highway. Follow the Mirror Lake Highway for 10.55 miles to a side road on the left. This side road, Forest Service road #035 is the road to the trailhead. It has, particularly in the first mile or so, quite a few side roads and small camping sites. Stay on the main road (#035) unless a specific junction is mentioned.

From the junction of roads 035 and 916, go left. Park anywhere here or continue driving about 0.5 miles on road 916 to its end. The end of the road is at a lovely small pond and wetland. Follow a bit of a cow/social trail on the right (east) side of the pond. Continue northeast through the grassland at the end of the pond. A small rocky hill is to the left (west here). Follow the base of this hill passing through another small clearing to a second larger clearing. Here the rocky hillside becomes a bit lower angled and allows easier passage.

Hike up the hillside, then northwest to Hourglass Lake. The lake sits at the base of a rocky slope. A quick walk around the lake and it is easy to see where it got its name.

From Hourglass Lake, if you continue north along the base of the rocky ridge, a second lake is reached. This lake, though unnamed, is also quite pretty and was about half covered by lily pads during our visit.

Finally, head south from the unnamed lake, and descend a steep section. This steep section had several good game trails, so if you find it difficult, look around for an easier route. You will likely reach the bottom near the large grassy area you left enroute to Hourglass Lake. Once down the hill, head a bit northeast to reach Little Elk Lake. On our visit, the lake was exceptionally low and not as picturesque as the others.

To return, you can retrace your steps back to the large grassy meadow, the back to the trailhead or head east to intersect road 035 and follow it back southeast to the trailhead. We chose the longer loop, returning on road 035 shown on the map.