There are two Rock Rabbit Lakes below Margaret Lake. Maps show road 4948-120 as being consistent, but after a few HUGE holes, we parked and walked the road about 0.7 miles to an unofficial campground above Swan Lake. (We were driving an Outback that *might* have been able to make it with some scratches and careful driving. An FJ did make it beyond the washout.)
It's right at the camp that we diverted onto an overgrown road/trail that stayed high while the road dropped to Swan. It's brushy and in spots disappears completely, but isn't that hard to follow. There are a couple of overlooks if you step off the road that show a very interesting valley leading up to Margaret.
We went to the smaller Rock Rabbit lake first. It's little more than a pond and at this time of year the water was way down. Lots of stinky mud. Nothing worth visiting for.
We went cross country to the larger lake (back toward the road) and found it's a proper lake. We bushwhacked above the south shore and heard lots of pika, saw a ton of haypiles, but only got one pic. The lake seems shallower on the south end and a little clearer in the north.
The lakes aren't that wonderful, but while we saw exactly zero people and only one car, the Margaret Lake trailhead was overflowing a quarter mile down the road.
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Ups n Downs on Rock Rabbit Lakes
Swan, Stonesthrow, and Rock Rabbits were my first hike ever in Washington in 1981. Might have to pay them another visit. Thanks for the report.
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Ups n Downs on Sep 07, 2020 07:51 PM