I've been wanting to do Gothic Basin for a while but I usually only get weekends off. I was lucky to have a weekday off this week so my friend and I decided to venture out to this popular area for an overnight trip.
Road to the TH
No forest road at all. You can either park at the Barlow Pass trailhead or the small lot next to the actual trail that leads you to Monte Cristo/Gothic Basin. I opted to park at the Barlow Pass TH because there was shade. I was thankful because my car wasn't overheating when I got back Wednesday night. There is a pit toilet and picnic table here. Toilet was stocked with TP.
Trail
Yeah, this was a hard hike. I've been hiking more this year but this one still kicked me in the butt. The first 1.4 miles until Weeden Creek was easy. A little bit of up and down. Then the last 3 miles up to the basin were absolutely brutal for me. My dog had a lot of fun though. We saw a DNR trail crew working on adding more steps to the slabby portion of the trail. Thanks for all the hard work!
When it's dry, it's totally doable. But when it's wet or early season, I could see this being tricky. There were a few spots to take a long break along the trail. First being Weeden Creek, second being another creek once the trail begins to open up and the third being the waterfall. I was thankful for all these spots to fill up water because both Tuesday and Wednesday were hot and humid. And of course, my dog appreciated it too.
Camping & Toilets
We went on a Tuesday night and I suppose this is considered later in the season. We didn't see anyone else camp in the basin itself and assumed everyone was probably at Foggy Lake. There were many campsites available but I'm sure they fill out on the weekends.
There were ponds and pockets of water in the basin but nothing was flowing. More streams were available at Foggy Lake. DNR must be really working on maintaining this area - there were flags for the various campsites and even flags to mark the trail up to Foggy Lake and yet, we saw a few day hikers the next day seemingly confused about where to go.
There are two toilets at Gothic Basin now. There were no signs but one of them is clearly marked on the maps. The first toilet is to the left right when you enter Gothic Basin. There's a campsite numbered Campsite #1 - you take a left and continue on. It's huge so it's hard to miss. The second toilet is further along a trail towards Foggy Lake. Here are the coordinates for it: 47.97950, -121.46251. See the toilets? Use them. I've seen trip reports where this has become a problem at Gothic Basin. These toilets have great views and seem to be so much cleaner! There is a vent for better ventilation.
We day hiked up to Foggy Lake the next day. We followed the official marked trail up. We went further up towards Del Campo and found more water and views. We turned around and took the other way back to camp. This trail was also marked on the maps and if you take this route, you will see the second toilet.
Overall, other trip reports covered everything! All I wanted to really say is use the toilets. Might take a bit of work to find them but it's better than digging a hole! So much more comfortable really. And coming here on a Tuesday/Wednesday was definitely the way to go!
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