3.0 hr
Overview
NOTICE: Trails in this area were affected by the 2020 Lionshead Fire. Please check current closures in the Mt. Hood National Forest before planning an outing. Fish Lake is the largest lake in the Olallie area that cannot be reached by road. It sits in a pronounced bowl, carved during the Pleistocene glaciation, and begins a string of three lakes (Surprise Lake and Si Lake are the next ones you will visit). Some of the biggest trees in the Olallie Lake Scenic Area thrive around Fish Lake, which, at three miles round-trip, is a great destination in itself for a leisurely family hike. Take the Fish Lake Trail #717 from the parking area at the Lower Lake Campground. Head up a rise among silver fir, huckleberry, grouseberry, and bear-grass. The trail soon drops under lodgepole pine, silver fir, mountain hemlock and western white pine. Reach Lower Lake and amble along its northern shore. There are campsites at the far end before you cross a creek. At the Fish Lake-Lodgepole Trail Junction, keep straight. The trail begins to descend to the rim of an escarpment. There’s a view through tall mountain hemlocks down to Fish Lake. Pass a boulder field on your left, switchback twice, traverse down, noting a large Douglas-fir up to the left, and make three more switchbacks through a vanilla leaf carpet. Cross a creek and come under some very large Douglas-firs accompanied by some equally impressive silver and noble firs. The largest trees are down near the lakeshore. Walk along the west shore of Fish Lake. There is a large campsite at the lake's northeast corner if you plan to spend the night. At the end of the lake, the trail joins an old road bed. Squirrel Creek runs through lush old growth to the right. Reach berms that don’t quite prevent ATV incursions and come under power lines in a scrappy lodgepole pine woodland. Cross the gravel powerline access road and keep straight over another series of berms. You will note more Engelmann spruce in the forest mix here. The trail levels and you come to the Fish Lake-Surpris
Trail Stats
9.3 km
245 m
1474 m
0 m
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Photos
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