Mirror and Cottonwood Lakes — Saturday, Jun. 28, 2025

We wanted to do a quick overnight backpacking trip and knew we couldn’t get out of Seattle until late Saturday afternoon so we chose this destination. The road is in great shape except the final 0.3 miles. It’s passable with a AWD/4WD high-clearance vehicle, but the question is why would you want to/need to drive that stretch? It gets quite narrow because of bushes growing into the road, and it only gets you 0.3 miles closer. We have an AWD high-clearance vehicle and I’m glad we parked down low (where there is plenty of space).

The trail to Cottonwood Lake is short, sweet, and in good condition. There are a few small trickles of water crossing in a few spots but your feet don’t get wet. The log bridge across Cottonwood Lake’s outflow stream is incredibly sturdy and wide. It’s a highlight (to me) of this trail.

We kept going to Mirror lake and found a lovely two-person spot off the PCT where we were able to set up camp for the evening. I’d say we were lucky to get a spot as “the inn was full”, with people in pretty much every available spot. We ambled around the lake, which is unmaintained but pretty easy to follow. There is one spot where you need to do a short schwack or get wet; we chose the schwack. Very nice side trip.

The trip down was just like the trip up, except easier and a tad faster. Overall a nice short hike and a lovely way to spend some time outdoors.

We did pass a bag of dog poop on the way up and down. While I appreciate the owner(s) picking up the poop, please don’t leave it on the side of the trail. Part of owning a dog is being responsible for their dookie. Thank you for coming to my Ted Talk.