Did this hike counter clockwise the elevation wasn’t so bad only 1750ft to the best view of Mt St. Helens, a great view of the lava dome. A view of Windy ridge and the east side of Mt. Rainier. After going down the summit towards deadman lake it was all forest no more views for 15 miles. The river was cool came to a great water fall. In all I did 20 miles in 8 hours. 4500 Elevation gain. Bugs we’re okay, saw some wildlife frogs and a snake.

No trail issues. No bugs. Plenty of ripe huckleberries.

About 20 cars in the parking lot on the Sunday morning of Labor Day weekend.

Three of us planned a two-night backpack into Deadman's Lake from the Goat Mountain trailhead. We had the trail to ourselves. Only 2 cars in the parking lot. Two couples breezed past us heading for a more ambitious loop hike on the Goat Mountain trail. two parties of mountain bikers passed us. Not a hazard as the trail is challenging and they were moving slowly. This is an overlooked trail that is glorious. The switchbacks to the ridge had ripe berries: thimble, blackberries, strawberries, huckleberries, and blueberries, enough to keep the thirst away. The ridge view is to Mt. St. Helens and Mt. Rainier, a little hazy due to the smoke. Wildflowers everywhere, thick and healthy. This trail was pummeled by hot volcanic ash 40 years ago. The surface is rounded by the mountain bikes and full of pumice, making for challenging footing. I slipped twice coming out. We had the lake to ourselves and enjoyed a refreshing swim. Stayed only one night as the bugs were relentless and we ran out of bug spray. Instead, we drove the FS road 99 to Windy Ridge, inspecting the information reader boards along the way. Even the area beyond Spirit Lake where the blast took all the topsoil shows signs of green. A marvelous reminder that the Earth will rejuvenate from whatever destruction climate change reeks. We may not make it as a species, but the Earth will.

This trail is open to hikers, horses and bicycles.

This 8.6 mile long trail begins on Road 2612 near Ryan Lake and immediately climbs steeply for the first 2 miles (1500 foot elevation gain) to the long ridge of Goat Mountain and then heads west along its southern flank offering views of Mount St. Helens and Mt. Margaret Backcountry.

The trail follows the ridge then descends to Deadmans Lake, near the junction with Tumwater Trail #218 at mile 5.  It climbs again to the junction with Vanson Peak Trail #217A at mile 7. Just beyond this junction is the junction for Vanson Lake Trail #217B, a short spur (0.25 mile) south into the Vanson Lake basin, and the junction with Vanson Ridge Trail #213A which runs south to tie in with the Green River Trail #213. 

Goat Mountain Trail #217 continues and ends on Weyerhaeuser Road 2600.

I just did an overnight loop from the Horse camp trailhead downstream on the Green River and back on the Goat Mountain trail. I used the Craig Romano's Backpacking guide (Green River and Goat MountaIn)

The trail is lovely and well maintained...with many trees cleared and a smoothed track from mountain bikers. As the hiking guide describes, the old growth section along the river is lovely (and I'd say magical). It felt like I was in Rainier National Park, with massive trees and lush undergrowth.

Biting flies can be prolific in spots along the trail (especially near the trailhead and bear grass areas at the Vanson peak area), so I wore long pants and long sleeves. Mosquitos weren't too bad, except at the Deadman's lake and a short stretch along the wildflower-lined trail before the saddle (and Goat Mountain). Surprisingly, there were almost no mosquitos or bugs at my camp along the old growth section (about 5 miles in).

Between the river and Vanson peak there are many stream crossings, but no water above about 4,100 feet. Between Vanson lake and Deadman's and Deadman's to the trailhead, there's no water, so fill up at the lakes.

Bear grass is in bloom, lining the forested ridge of the Goat Mountain trail for what seemed like miles. In the open areas, it was mostly past peak. (There are hillsides of it facing south and it would be amazing to see that maybe two weeks ago). Along with bear grass, there's fading lupine and peak tiger lily.

Deadman's lake is delightfully warm for swimming and has great camp spots.

Views from Goat mountain are fabulous, but not too much different from what you can see from the main trail. (Just a bit more of St. Helen's since its somewhat blocked by the ridge to the south.

We arrived at the Goat Creek trailhead mid-morning on Friday, July 23rd. We were the first vehicle. We did the loop clockwise (along trail 218). The first day was pretty uneventful, but it is a fairly long trip to Deadman's Lake. You do get peek-a-boo views of Mt Rainier, but don't expect to otherwise be blown away by the scenery. A fine hike in, but nothing outstanding compared to other hikes in the Cascades. The area near Tumwater Mountain has A LOT of downed trees and some areas are very hard to pass. Expect slow going for a couple of miles at least.

When we approached the junction to go to Deadman's Lake, the mosquitos were horrific. The worst I've experienced in Washington. Bring a lot of very effective mosquito spray and be prepared to live with them. The lake was otherwise scenic and there was a nice sunset, but the mosquitos were a lot. At this point, we'd seen no other people until a mountain biker approached asking about camp. Later a few more came through, but not a lot of people overall.

On our second day, we took a day hike East along the Goat Mountain (trail 217) toward Ryan Lake and the Goat Mountain trailhead. Again mosquitos in the morning were annoying but not as bad as the previous evening. After a time (a couple of miles) the mosquitos thinned out and we enjoyed our climb out of Deadman's Lake. We had some views along the way of Mt. Rainier again, but things don't really open up until you reach the true ridge and then you get a 360 view of the whole area, which is stunning. Sadly at this point, the flies started and they never stopped.

During the rest of our hike along the ridge any time we stopped we were overwhelmed with flies. So much so that it was hard to take a break to eat lunch. As we got closer to Ryan Lake we could now see Mount St. Helens and surrounding mountains. Truly beautiful and classic Cascades mountain/valley views. As we began to descend to Ryan Lake we decided we'd had enough of the flies and figured we'd seen the best of the area so we headed back to camp. We saw many more people on this second day (as it was Saturday), but overall the traffic was not bad at all. The trail was clear and easy to navigate, although expectedly dusty. Wildflowers blooming everywhere.

Happily, when we returned to camp there was a nice breeze that seemed to have kept the mosquitos at bay, but whenever it let up the flies would come. We took a dip in the lake and enjoyed the serenity for most of the night. The flies came and went here and there, but by dusk, we were mostly fly and mosquito-free for a few hours. As it got later the mosquitos returned and we went to bed.

On day three the morning mosquitos were tolerable, but perhaps we were just getting used to our new friends. We broke camp and hiked out toward Vanson Peak/Lake. We found this southern route (trail 217) much more enjoyable than the northern route coming in. There were still some areas of downed trees, but not nearly as much and we found the forest, streams, and waterfalls more pleasant than much of the northern route. I would suggest (if you don't mind out and back hikes), to just avoid the northern part of the loop down to Deadman's lake and take the southern. Then do the side day hike to Goat Mountain and return to Deadman's Lake. The next day hike back along the southern route.