hello fellow hikers!
my bestie + I needed a single night in the backcountry with no permit prep & the Goat Rock Wilderness fit the bill beautifully. We started at the Snowgrass Flats trailhead and did the loop clockwise.
Trail: Numerous trees down over the trail, which are all passable, but are challenging with overnight packs on. Additionally, if you hike clockwise, your first water source was 4.5 miles in from the Snowgrass Flats TH and probably 4 miles from the Berry Patch TH. If you hike the loop counterclockwise, you will hit water sources closer.
Wildflowers: Wildflowers galore!! There were bear grass, Indian paint brushes (orange, red, hot pink, and rose), lupines, columbines, pink mountain-heather, and purple asters were putting on a show :)
Bugs: Mosquitos & horse flies were annoying throughout the forested segments of the trail. Once you made it to the alpine, they were not as bad!
Parking: Plenty of parking on a Monday and very clean bathrooms at Snowgrass Flats TH.
Road: The forest road isn't bad, just long and very wash boarded. My Toyota RAV4 did fine. Though it did take us 50 minutes to drive down it.
Snow: None!
Campsites: We got an awesome & flat spot, with a view of Mount Adams, wildflowers, marmots and goats. There were maybe 10 parties there on a Monday night. Still some spots left :)
Final Stats: 14.2 miles & 2,775 ft of elevation gain
happy hiking!
-Lauren is Exploring
IG: @laurenisexploring_
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