Ten of us got to the the groomed road at the turnaround about 9:30 am. This is as for as you can drive, but had to park about 1/3 of a mile back down the road. With that starting point it made it a 8.2 mile round trip snowshoe hike. We had lunch on the bridge over Cooper river, near the end of Cooper lake. A beautiful spot!
The trail had lots of snow on it with a few downed trees, easy to get over though. This trail has over twice as much elevation gain as the hike post says it has! 831 feet according to my AllTrails recording. This trail has a lot of rolling up and down, nothing very steep.
Was a challenging snowshoeing hike, but the many views of the cooper river made it worthwhile!
Comments
I've never been to this area before in the winter. what is the "groomed road at the turnaround"? Did you park in the sno park lot with a sno park pass or where is the spot on the road in comparison to the sno park lot? Thank you!
Posted by:
annika on Jan 15, 2018 09:38 PM
The groomed road is the road that leads to the camp area in the summer. It is open to snowshoers and crosscountry skiers only. You don't use the sno-park lot. Stay on the main road, you can park on the road and need a sno-park pass.
Posted by:
The Cascade hiker: William G. on Jan 15, 2018 10:00 PM
Would someone be willing to write the directions to this snowshoe? There aren't any in the Hikers Guide. Thanks!
Posted by:
annika on Jan 15, 2018 11:49 PM
I used the Google map, in the lower right corner click open map into a new window. Type in your starting place, change the day to the day you are going to go. This will give you driving time, directions & a printable map. At the snowshoe trailhead there is a posted map to the Cooper River trail.
Posted by:
The Cascade hiker: William G. on Jan 16, 2018 06:20 AM
Thanks for all your help, The Cascade hiker: William G!
Posted by:
annika on Jan 16, 2018 06:33 PM