John Guilford's Hikes

Goat Lake on 2025-10-21

Date: 2025-10-21

Location: Goat Lake

People: (including myself): Happy Hikers

			  	Alt.	Miles
Trailhead:		9:30	1880	0
Trail Junction:		9:37	1950	0.3
Some Cascades:			2260	1.6
Trail Junction:		10:55	2600	3.0
Falls:			12:00	2900	4.6
Goat Lake:		12:30	3170	5.6
Leave:			2:00	3170	7.2
Trail Junction:		3:00	2600	9.4
Trail Junction:		4:15	1950	12.1
Trailhead:  		4:20	1880	12.5

Another nice day hike in a rainy week. We had a gorgeous autumn day.

The road to the trailhead was in good condition (better than stretches of the Mountain Loop Highway which had a fair number of potholes).

This hike has something for everyone, autumn colors, mountain views, waterfalls, mushrooms, and even mud.

A short way in from the trailhead the trail splits into two options. The Upper trail is longer and flatter (and old road) while the Lower trail goes along Elliott creek with views of numerous cascades. Many people use one trail for going in and the other for going out. We opted to use the Lower trail for both directions as it is prettier.

On the way in, we made numerous stops for pictures of mushrooms and Elliott Creek. After 3 miles, the Upper and Lower trails join back together and continue on to Goat Lake.

The grade of the trail wasn't hard, though it steepens nearer the lake. We took a detour down to the bottom of the falls for pictures before doing the switchbacks up to the top of the falls and then Goat Lake.

At the lake we stopped for lunch on one of the numerous little beaches. There was little wind, so we got some nice reflections of Cadet Peak across the lake.

After lunch we continued around the lake a ways until the trail petered out. The trip back was a bit quicker as we didn't make as many stops for photos. Some of our party collected oyster mushrooms on the way out.