Goodwin Trail #1346

Dogs Unknown

Features Birding · Fall Colors · Fishing · Lake · River/Creek · Spring · Views · Waterfall · Wildflowers · Wildlife

After about 1.25 miles on the Rainbow Trail, heading north out of the parking lot, you'll find a sign designating the start of the Goodwin Trail. Turn left here. The Rainbow Trail cuts through a forested mix on an easy grade, but the Goodwin Trail quickly gains 650 feet up to and along Goodwin Creek before leveling again. After about 2.5 miles, the trail enters a meadow, and up ahead, you can see where you'll be headed with the first valley striped with avalanche chutes.

Beyond the meadow, the trail pulls further from the creek. The drainage bends south, and slowly becomes steeper. As you cross the avalanche chutes at 3.5 miles, you can find a couple of very small campsites sheltered in the woods. As far as I could tell, these are the last ones until the lake. Another 0.4 miles, and you'll come to another wide chute at the creek crossing. In spring, the water runs shin high without any rocks or good logs to aid in the crossing.

Higher in the basin now, and south of the creek, the climb really begins to pick up. The entire south face of the basin is striped with avalanche chutes. Patchy snow remains through the spring, and convolutes the final quarter mile or so. After 4.8 miles total, the trail passes a campsite then meets with the shoreline. Just before here, a weaker trail turns to the north to cross the creek. Barely 1/10th of a mile beyond this point, and about 40 feet higher, the trail dead ends at the higher lake. There's yet a third and a fourth lake southwest of the lower lake if you follow the drainage towards its source. I went in the early spring when it was still snow-covered, so I'm not sure if there's an actual trail headed up there.