Trillium Lake Loop Trail [CLOSED]

Closed with rangers guarding entrance 5/15

3/22/2020: We snowshoed but many people only wore hiking boots. Left our car at the snowpark on the highway and hiked into the lake. As of late March the ice is still thick enough to walk on. After the dam on the west end we took a logging road back which added on a couple more miles. There are some beautiful snow-covered meadows back there as well. A nice escape from things during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Enjoy the quietness of it all!! Walk across the lake was surreal.

This place is absolutely amazing.

Loved this snowy stroll around Trillium Lake! The clouds cleared up to beautiful blue skies in the early afternoon, and the snow was really easy to walk on with just boots. Saw some snowshoers and micro spikes, which seemed unnecessary. Lots of cross-country skiers, too. Since the campground road is closed to cars in the winter, we had to hike to the lake first. My fitness tracker recorded 2mi to the lake, 1mi looping around it, and another 2mi back - 5mi total. We had no trouble parking at 1pm, and the traffic wasn’t too heavy, either. Overall, a really pleasant hike!

This route starts at end of parking lot, entering the Red Top Meadow Trail. The trail ends at the Trillium Rd. turning left on the road, in a few feet enter the Trillum Mountain Bike Trail. Follow the blue diamond markers thru the forest untill you come to fork in the road. Sign on tree has 2 arrows. Turn right to vontinue aling north west side of lake. Pink ribbons on trees mark trail which opens up to the dam..You are in road for a few feet before entering back on trail around the other side of lake. Follow blue diamonds till you get back to sign on tree. Turn right back onto Bike Trail. Return back to car on Red Top Meadow trail.

Got to parking lot at about 11am and found a spot without trouble. It wasn't as busy as I was anticipating. You don't really need snowshoes until you to get down to the lake but we wore them anyway and stayed on the sides where it was deeper. We got to see beautiful Mt. Hood for a bit before the clouds moved in. A lot of trails you could mob around on if you wanted to get away from the crowds and get into some deeper snow. Cheers!

Good trail for first time snowshoeing! Very sunny out with a light wind chill. (03/01/2020). We left the main path and it definitely had less people. Highly recommend leaving the main trail.

Snowshoed. Not too busy today and caught some views of beautiful Mt. Hood before the clouds moved in. Hike is about 2 miles longer than description, road to lake is closed during the winter. Didn't really need snow shoes down to the lake but we wore them anyway, definitely needed them once we got off the road. We got to the parking lot around 11am and found a parking spot without any trouble. Cheers!

Nice day today. But it adds 2 miles extra from parking lot

We took the forest service road to the campground and cut over to the lake via the campground trails. Traversed across and around the frozen lake with our snow shoes and then headed back via the forest service road in normal snow boots. A gorgeous bluebird morning well spent!!!!

Nice trail, I was this first one out there this morning (2/8/20) and it was a little hard to stay on the trail at some parts especially the sound and East sides of the lake, glad I got there when I did, the parking lot was completely full by the time I got back at about 10:00 am, go early

Is there enough snow to do some snowshoeing g this weekend? Any feedback would be great!

I've stayed away from Trillium Lake for years due to the crowds. Today I went up early and it didn't matter as the parking lot was already half full. When we left, cars were parked all the way out in Hwy 26. It was pretty but just way too many people. This is the Disneyland of trails.

For now it was definitely snowshoe or ski condition. Go earlier you can get perfect trail

Overall good snowshoeing conditions. If you are hoping to do the true Trillium Lake Loop for snowshoeing you will be disappointed as many have been hiking on it, so it’s muddy. However, if you stay on the campground/road loop around the lake you will be happy. Still great views of the lake. On average would say snow is 6-8” on the ground.

Great hike around the loop today even though we couldn't see the views of 'her majesty' through the gray sky. We carried our snowshoes the whole time. Not a huge amount of snow and it was packed down. Not too crowded on the first part of our hike. The last stretch fresh powder was falling down hard.

Beautiful day with light snowfall. I started late at 1pm so it was VERY busy. Parking hard to find. No chains required today though. Many people were snowshoeing, skiing, and sledding. It had been a while since I was here, so I forgot that it’s 2 miles in from the trailhead just to get to the lake. Which makes this a 6 mile trek if you do the whole thing. Was not prepared for that this late in the day with sun going down. Recommend starting early if you want to do the whole thing! Otherwise great day and amazing pics.