This trail leads to an awesome destination and there is very little info out there. I am going to try to get as much packed in here as possible. See video below for more detail. 

1. Getting there (Phone may lose signal). Use google map directions to High Rock Trailhead. Print them off or download to your phone. As of this report the fire roads are in great shape. 

2. Looking at High Rock Trailhead turn 180 degrees to the south and walk to the Greenwood Lake trailhead. 

3. Trail is in pretty good shape but you will be rubbing up against vegetation the majority of the way. Roughly 2.8 miles in and 2.8 miles out. 

4. The lake is beautiful and overabundant with Eastern Brook Trout. For rules check the WDFW site. I had a fun day fishing and the taste was incredible. 

5. I did see some trash along the way and picked up everything I saw on the way back. 

6. Right now there are quite a few types of berries and wildflowers along the way. 

7. The day I went it was raining so the bugs were not bad at all. Beautiful hike through the clouds. 

Let me know if you have questions. This is a hidden gem. 

ADO

Approximately a 5 mile hike with total elevation gain of 1100' (some of this is from the return trip). Views of Adams, St. Helens, and Rainier. You'll get the Adams and Helens views if you walk along 8500-149 which I did after taking the left/motorcycle option of the Greenwood Lake Trail at Cougar gap (it's not on maps, at least what I used) but you can't miss it. Took the regular trail back. Plenty of great Mt Rainier views and wildflowers. Super short time at lake due to bugs. No one else on the trail. Mostly in the shade if there in the early morning. Views along trail were better than the lake itself in my opinion. 

Greenwood Lake Trail No. 253
This trail, which is starting at the same location (Towhead Gap) as the popular High Rock Trail No. 256, is a less frequented trail in the Gifford Pinchot National Forest south of Ashford.  We had hiked there several times, and often braved the pothole-scarred NF84 to drive to the trailhead.  This year NF84 is in the best surface condition we have ever seen it.  The junction with NF8440 is at 6.8 miles from NF52 (Skate Creek Road), leading to the trailhead in another 2.6 miles. NF8440 is currently in good shape.  The first few hundred yards of Trail No. 253 is a smelly disgrace, an outhouse trail littered with used toilet tissue.  In response to the overuse of the High Rock trail, the Forest Service has parked a portable toilet on a trailer at the trail head, but the TP pollution persists.  The main difficulty with the Greenwood Lake-Cougar Gap trail is that it is an upside down trail, losing 600 ft. before climbing back up to Cougar Gap.  On this hike, one has to conserve reserve energy for the return to the parked car at the trail head at the end of the day. At Cougar Gap one has the choice of hiking Allen Mountain (Trail No. 269) or continuing toward Greenwood Lake on either the official trail or an motorcycle track (blocked by a few rocks) up the ridge (which we took). The steep motorcycle track ends at a logging road (Spur 653?) on top of the ridge with great views of Mt. Rainier, High Rock, Allen Mtn., and Mt. Adams.  This was the high point of our trip today.  We did not go all the way to the lake.  For the return, it is easier to take the "official" trail down, a very narrow trail on a steep hillside.  At its junction with the logging road, there once was a sign nailed to a tree (now illegible) and there is a cairn, barely visible in the tall grass.  Trail No. 253 is open to mountain bikes and motorcycles, but except for a short stretch near Cougar Gap, there is no indication that it has recently been used by motorcycles.  The trail is so narrow, but in good shape for hiking. One wonders why the Forest Service would even consider opening it for wheeled vehicles.  While the High Rock trail today was crowded with at least 15 vehicles parked at the trailhead, we did not encounter any hikers on the Greenwood Lake trail.

NF-8440 impassable 1.5 miles shy of High Rock trailhead due to snow and ice. Parked along the roadside and hiked to the trailhead. First half of Greenwood Lake trail was passable and in good condition. The ascent trail from the bottom of the draw to the top of the NF-8511 ridgeline is packed with 2-3’ of snow; snowshoes recommended. The trail is nearly impossible to follow from this point. My hiking partner and I “post-holed” it through the trees to the ridgeline; slow going and physically demanding. The ridgeline is covered in snow, but easier to traverse due to little-to-no incline. The mountain was not out due to rain. The descent trail to Greenwood Lake is similarly snow covered and impossible to follow. We again “post-holed” a route through the trees hand-railing a runoff creek to navigate to the lake. The lake was nearly completely frozen over. The reverse trip is slightly easier as the hardest ascent through the snow is on the in-bound leg.

A physically challenging and difficult hike today. Will return to its normal grandeur once the snow melts.