Bluff Lake

The access road was previously washed out by Purcell Creek a mile or so before the trailhead, but has since been repaired and is now drivable the whole way. 

At the trailhead, found at 2,840 feet, there is room for a few cars. There's also a trailhead sign and a wilderness register, but no facilities.

From the trailhead, the trail immediately enters the forest and the Goat Rocks Wilderness Area. The well-maintained trail has red huckleberry bushes along the initial half mile. The shady walk is mostly within sound of Purcell Creek, but stays a well above it and its main tributary from the Bluff Lake area.

At 0.7 mile, the trail crosses the base of a large rock feature with a layer of moss. It crosses another at 0.8 mile. The trail then crosses a stream a mile from the trailhead and continues the gradual climb to the lake.

As the trail nears the lake, it enters an area known as Huntington Berry Patch. True to its name, this area has many blueberry and salmonberry bushes, which have ripe berries in mid to late July.

The trail passes by the lake at 1.5 miles and 3,840 feet of elevation, but not really in sight of it. Short side trails provide access to a campsite on the southwestern end of the lake and a viewpoint above the lake. A boot trail around the lake provides access to campsites on a rock above the southeast side and at the eastern end of the lake. The boot trail encircles the lake but skirts the brushy area on the north side and also provides a few access points for trout fishing.

There are no mountain views at the secluded lake. To see Mount Rainier, one must continue on the Bluff Lake trail, now steeper and less maintained, for another 0.8 mile and climb 600 feet above the lake to a viewpoint at 2.3 miles from the trailhead.

Beyond this viewpoint, the trail continues on, crossing the ridge of Coal Creek Mountain and continuing near the crest, as it heads southeast to a junction at 6.6 miles from the trailhead. Two trails leave the junction, one to Lost Lake and the other to Lost Hat Lake. (Much of the trail beyond the lake was burned in the 2018 Goat Rocks Fire, and work is being done to recover and re-establish it, but reaching the junction to Lost and Lost Hat Lakes would be very difficult at this time.)