I like to use the Iron Goat Crossover trail as a spring conditioning hike. Starting at the Scenic Interpretive site it is a quick mile up two dozen switchbacks gaining 750 feet! It is certainly a leg stretcher (or a knee bender) while driving highway 2. The parking lot was nearly full being it was a sunny Sunday. Nice to see so many people exploring this historic trail. I made it up in 35 minutes and wandered another quarter mile east to the Windy Point Viewpoint. The cool breeze from the West was refreshing thus I didn’t need to shed layers till I got to the sunny viewpoint. While relaxing a young solo hiker emerged from the eastern portion of the trail. I asked if he had come from Wellington. He said he had crossed over going through the Windy Point tunnel! Whew, luckily he didn’t come across mama bear known to frequent the area! 

We love this hike. It's one of our favorites as it seems to never be crowded. All the tunnels are super fun to look at and see. Lots of informational signs and the trail is easy to maneuver and be on. We stayed on the main trail instead of doing the loop to the upper trail. It was a little steeper and harder than any of us were prepared for. We had the dog and she loved playing in all the water run off. We were careful to only let her play in the clean flowing water though. There are several places with stagnant seeming water that might not be suitable for dogs. 

It was very green out and pretty. Day was perfect out. We got back to the car right as it started raining. We parked at the interpretive center so our room mate could read the signage before heading up. There are decent bathrooms and trashcans here. Make sure to pack out all your trash and dog waste. Don't be that person that leaves bags on the side of the trail. 

The trail is very easy and flat throughout the entire hike. It was definitely a fun day. 

Needing to walk off a huge brunch, we took the kids out and hit Iron Goat on Sunday. The parking lot at the Martin Creek trailhead was completely empty at 3pm. This trail is in great shape, other than a few branches down and some water flowing over the trail in places. We hiked the trail clockwise from Martin Creek in just under 4 hours. The kids loved the tunnels and avalanche sheds that seem to be spread throughout this trail. We only saw two other families on the trail, so it was a pretty quiet hike. The switchbacks coming down are much longer than they appear on the map - the 8 year old noticed that about halfway down and was sure to let me know about it. The last 2.75 miles were on a very well kept trail (ADA accessible?), but that did not stop the 11 year old and wife from letting me know exactly how tired they were after this 6+ mile hike. We made it back to the trailhead around 7pm and were still the only vehicle in the parking lot. I was surprised at how empty this trail was on a beautiful Sunday afternoon. May have to go back and tackle it again - counter clockwise! 

First time hiking this trail. We started at the Iron Goat Interpretive Center trailhead and headed up the Windy Point crossover trail. Then headed towards Wellington and the avalanche site. Weather was cool and sunny. Trail was clear with some patches of snow, the higher we got. Only one larger snow field to cross without much difficulty. Spotted a few small garter snakes sunning themselves on the trail up and back. After coming back down to Windy Point we took the upper trail of the loop until the Correa cutoff.

We were on the last mile before we reached the trailhead, as we were rounding a bend in the trail, we encountered two black bear cubs! We didn't see or hear mama bear, but I'm sure she was watching us. We backed away slowly and the cubs ran into the brush. We waited about five minutes and then proceeded slowly along the trail talking loudly and making noise. Didn't see or hear any more from the bears.