Sign at the trailhead said the boulder lake trail was closed due to the poor conditions of a bridge. Check with someone else before you drive out there.

We drove on the FS road for as long as we could. We then followed the washed out road to the trailhead. Steep climb but well worth it. Lots of nice camping spots and the lake was beautiful. Bridge is closed but we still walked over it.

BOULDER LAKE TRAIL IS CLOSED DUE TO UNSAFE BRIDGE. Information about this trail on this page is outdated and not accurate. Although small sections of the hike are enjoyable, this is not a "a well-crafted trail", nor is it "Kid-friendly" (it's barely Adult-friendly). There are many blow-downs - nothing that can't be stepped over or scooted under. But one major problem is the brush that is dangerously overgrown in some areas, including very thorny Devil's Club. It makes it impossible to watch your own footing on a trail that is suffering some erosion.

This trail is not 5.1 miles to the lake as indicated. The logging road leading to the new trail head is washed out and closed 2.2 miles before the coordinates indicate. Although this article mentions having to hike 1.3 mile to the old trail-head, there are actually 2 "old trail-heads" and the initial hike is longer than 1.3 miles. So from the newest parking lot you're looking at 7.3 miles to the lake, or 14.6 miles round trip. Due to the trail being closed it is not being maintained, and the brush is so over grown in places you cannot see the trail. This is quite a bit for a day hike.

My friend and I were greeted by the "Trail Closed" sign upon arrival. Since a large group was heading up the neighboring Greider Lake trail, we decided to try out the Boulder Lake trail anyway for some solitude. So at the parking lot we enter the first of three trail-heads. From the parking lot, you enter a small path through a patch of woods which leads to an old logging road. You'll be trekking this road for about 2 boring miles, climbing up and down countless ditches and gullies to cross (this doesn't seem so bad on the way up, but seems to never end on the return trip, with no unique landmarks to signify your progress or distance). This will take you to the previous parking lot for the trail-heads (the second trail-head), and here the trails diverge to the Greider Lake and Boulder Lake trail. Now you continue on more logging road and crossing more of these never-ending ditches and gullies until you reach the original trail-head (now the third trail-head). The old logging road goes on straight but ends suddenly where there is no bridge. You'll want to follow the sign right toward the trail - now you're finally on the 'real trail'. A steady incline will lead you to the wooden bridge that crosses the river. The bridge has a few boards blocking the entrance (that are easy to climb over) and a sign warning you the trail is closed due to this "unsafe bridge". The bridge appeared to be missing part of a handrail, but otherwise is sturdy, wide, and IMHO just fine. (I've crossed many streams and rivers over logs and rocks that were much "unsafer" than this bridge. This bridge is quite safe in comparison to the rest of the trail).

After a few uphill miles on what started to finally become a somewhat pleasant hike, one of the switchbacks we encountered was so overgrown with Devil's Club for about a 1/2 mile to 1 mile stretch, it is impossible to see the trail ahead of you or under your feet, and will make you wonder if you took a wrong turn. A report from last year described this Devil's Club as "chest high". I can report this year that it's higher than "head high" and I'm 5' 11". During this section you will need to literally fight your way through almost a mile of thorns. Oh, and mind your footing, because you really cannot "watch your step" since you can't see your feet. This is where the trail is heavily eroded and nearly gone in some places, and immediate drop-offs are possible. My friend and myself came out of this section of the trail very heavily scratched up, as it is impossible to avoid these thorny vines (unless you happen to be carrying a weed-eater, which I was not). Once you make it through this unpleasantness, the final leg of the trail will lead you to Boulder Lake. It is a very pretty blue-green lake nestled among snowy hills, with plenty of established campsites. We built a small fire to cook our lunch, but found very little usable firewood.

I hear there is a pesky bear in this area - other hikers we ran into came across him and there was evidence of scratching on many of the trees, but we didn't see him. Only bugs. Lots and lots of bugs. There are plenty of berries along the way just beginning to ripen.

In conclusion, this trip was way too long for a day hike, and unsafe for anything enjoyable. I will not be returning to this trail. I will say I honestly did learn a valuable lesson about safety issues and hiking "closed trails", and I am even more grateful and appreciative of the work done by the volunteers who keep these trails open and safe for us to enjoy.

This hike was more challenging that anticipated, but ended with a private hideaway tucked into the trees near a charming little lake. The hike began with a long approach from the new trailhead to the old down a wide gravel road with gullies carved into it at regular intervals. This part is easy going, and seems short on the way up but long on the way back. When you get to the old trailhead the trail starts to climb gradually through cool, shady old growth forest. Once you've gained some elevation, the trail traverses the mountainside through thick underbrush. This is where the hike becomes very difficult. The trail is extremely overgrown and it was difficult at times to see where we were stepping on uneven ground. This part goes on for a half mile to a mile before you reenter old growth forest and begin the final climb to Boulder Lake.

The camping sites around the lake have fire pits are are well maintained. Bugs were a bit of a problem, but there were more flies than mosquitoes and with long sleeves and a bug net I was fine. We were also warned at the start of our hike that there was a nuisance bear in the area, but aside from some stripped off tree bark we saw no signs of bears along the way. Still, we took serious precautions including cooking our meal and a separate campsite and hanging all our food in a tree. There were no bear boxes at the lake that we found. I would also recommend bringing lots of water, because there were not many natural sources of water along the way where you can refill. All in all I would not recommend this trail for a day hike, but it was very worthwhile for an overnight. Boulder Lake is scenic and private and a great place to escape the crowds and really enjoy nature.