Long Canyon Trail

We clocked the hike at 36 miles. We weren't expecting this long of a hike. If they could change the info on AllTrails I'm certain our experience would've been better.

Great hike. Mosquitos were relentless. Definitely bring bug spray and clothes to cover up. Buddy and I began at 5pm on Saturday (7/25) and hiked until 10pm where we camped just past the second crossing of Long Canyon Creek. The next day we broke camp at 10am and hit the trail. There was plenty of water to filter and drink along the Long Canyon Trail #16. Once you get up on to the Parker Ridge Trail #221, it gets dry and there is much less shade. We had to make a detour (1/2 mile) down to Parker Lake to get water. Made it back to our car at 11:30pm. Certainly felt like more than 27 miles with all of the switchbacks. I would recommend giving yourself two full days to hike so that you can slow down and enjoy the scenery. Note: There are 3 points at which you have to cross Long Canyon Creek. The water is fast but you can easily find shallow spots (knee deep or less).

Just finished this in two days. Left a bike at the Parker Creek trail head (trail 221) started at Long Canyon creek trail head (trail 16.) Trail is in great shape all the way through, all blow downs have been recently cleared. Creek crossings are all fine. Lots of skeeters. Still a few patches of snow on Parker Ridge but not enough to slow you down. Not sure where AllTrails got 27.3 miles. It’s a solid 35 with a one mile H2O detour at Parker Lake.

Unfortunately, I was unable to complete this hike. I reached the campsite and Canyon Creek at mile 7, but could go no further. There are no bridges for this crossing, but Canyon Creek is about waist-high and moving very quickly. As I was hiking alone, I did not want to try to make the cross myself. I would definitely wait until July to make this crossing - I just felt it was too dangerous to try. The Forest Service website only mentions that this a river crossing with no bridge, but gives zero warning about the height and speed of Canyon Creek this time of year.

Only did the first 4 miles to test out some new gear. 1st .5 mile is a bit muddy but not bad, after the first 2 miles there are about 4 blow downs that are fairly easy to traverse and the trail is dry. Saw bear and moose sign but nothing outside of birds and squirrels in person. Planning on finishing this trail next month, 1st 4 or so miles are a perfect hike this early in the season.

A friend and I did this hike back in late September, 2017. We started at the Trout Creek trailhead and went over Pyramid Pass to get to the Long Canyon/Parker loop. Going this route, we got in rougly 52 miles in a 3 day hike. We skipped Long Mountain Lake (1/4 mile to the lake) and Parker Peak (1/2 mile to the peak), but we did go and see Parker Lake (1/2 mile to the lake). We started with going down Long Canyon, which was very shaded and had lots of water sources. There's about 3 dedicated camping areas along the way. The old cedar and pine trees are amazing to see. You have to cross 3 creeks, which wasn't too bad in late September, but just be aware. There was a fire up Parker Ridge back in August, 2015 so there's plenty of burnt trees so be careful. Going up Parker Ridge is very strenuous. Bring lots of water before going up as theres only 1 water source between the trailhead and Parker Lake and it's a very small and slow moving spring (more like a mud puddle). The views from on top of Parker Ridge are breathtaking and well worth all the effort. You can see Montana, Washington, and Canada just by turning your head up there!