Baker Lake Trail

A beautiful easy hike. We only made it to Maple Grove campground which is about a 4 mile nice relatively flat hike great for a day trip. I can't wait to go back and camp there.

Very nicely maintained trail with excellent campsites. Views from the campsites were stunning. The trail was pretty easy, but as a warning to parents this is not a great trail for young kids. We hiked in to Anderson point to camp with our 3 yo and 5 yo. There was some elevation gain and loss but not bad. However, much of the trail was narrow with a 100-300 ft drop on one side of the trail. Had to hold my 3 yos hand much of the trail. I would not take children under 5 on this trail.

great.

Such a beautiful trail. Hardly any elevation at all. We started at the back end of the lake near the baker river trail. We were really happy that we did as we didn’t have time to hike the entire 14 miles. The views of the river leading into the lake are breathtaking! I wish I was still there. We were able to hike to noisycreek campground and back. What an amazing day!

Great way to walk in the woods! Every mile offered a sense of discovery. Would love to come back for an overnight trip!

Started from the northern east bank and hiked and about a mile past noisy creek to stop and have lunch on the beach. Beautiful clear views of Baker and neighboring peeks. No snow or ice on trail or in the parking lot.

very beautiful, amazing views of Mt. Baker.

Went out to Maple Grove on for an overnight out and back with my wife. Trail is wonderfully shaded and flat. Bridge is still out about 1 mile north of the south entrance, but a large log and various smaller logs make the river passable.

Gorgeous views of Baker, Shuksan, and of course the lake. Stunning old growth forest. Can continue along the trail if you desire for up to 14.3 miles one way. Overnight we encountered a black bear sniffing around and looking for anything interesting. Bring a bear canister and be aware. Didn’t see any bears midday. Be smart, don’t leave food out, and enjoy this beautiful hike.

Hiked half.
Bridge over Anderson creek is broken but passable.

pretty, lots of up and down. no lake access if you start from the North.

What a fantastic backpacking experience. I hiked in solo and stayed overnight from Thursday to Friday. The hike in was extremely pleasant until about mile 3. The majority of the trail meanders parallel to the lake so you get fantastic views of the lake, lots of shade and a nice breeze. The last mile however veers inland where the brush, bugs and sun exposure get much worse. Cruise through it though because the camp site at Maple Grove is awesome. Of the 6 camp spots, a few were closed and a few were taken by boaters. The best spot for a solo hiker, Site 1, was open and away from the other campers so I really had the place to myself. The forest is very quiet but the lake can get noisy with boats from time to time. Being by myself I welcomed the occasional waterskier or fishing boat to watch. This was an excellent trip overall. The next time I come I will bring the family and the canoe and explore more of the surrounding lake.

Elevation gain is misleading as you're hardly ever on flat terrain. LOTS of ups and downs. We did an overnighter and found a STUNNING campsite about 8 miles from trailhead, just past Noisy Creek (we think). Single campsite right on the lake, totally private. Once you get about a mile or two you see very few people on the trail, which is good because it's quite narrow in spots. If it's been raining, highly recommend gaiters as your pants will get soaked from vegetation. Very scenic, but no vistas or overlooks. Just the lake.

lake this trail. our youngest who is four has done this trail many times.

Nice meandering trail that weaves along the Eastern shore of Baker Lake. Not great lake access, as you are typically 20-50ft above shoreline with a steep drop. Great trail for beginners and children, or to make summit attempts at greater peaks.

great hike, especially on a warm day since it's in the trees. the streams are awesome.

easy and rewarding, making it a good trip for all skill level. Go in off season if you want any chance of privacy

Easy and fun trail with wonderful views of several peaks, Mt. Baker and Baker Lake/River. But THE DIRECTIONS TO THE TRAIL ARE WRONG (at least on the iPhone). I downloaded the directions from the AllTrails iPhone app and opened them with Apple maps. The directions took me about 20 miles out of the way, well beyond Rockport. So I stopped at the Cascades National Park ranger station and asked for directions. Here's what you do: Head towards Concrete and between mile marker 82 and 83, turn onto Baker Lake Rd. The Baker Lake/Baker River trailhead (it's the same trailhead) is about 25.5 miles at the end of that road. Also FYI, about halfway through Baker Lake Rd, it turns into gravel, so watch out. And, Discover Passes don't work here. You need to bring $5 to pay. Happy trails!

Great trail, took my 7 y/o for his first overnight backpacking trip. The trail was easy, well marked - perfect for families with small children. Bring plenty of bug spray, the first mile is through some swampy areas with swarms of mosquitoes.

Gorgeous views, easy enough for kids if you don't go too far in.

pretty good views from Anderson campground, it's pretty easy hike to maple grove campground which gets you closer for snaps with glacier on north cascades

Took my 4 year old for an adventure about a month ago, and this is where we ended up. We were not disappointed. in fact he keeps asking if we can go back!

There are actually 2 starting points for this trail, one at the north end at the same location as the Bakerr River trail and then the south end which you go across the dam as if heading to Anderson & Watson lakes trail. Also, the total trail distance one way is about 14.5 miles (not 9 miles).

We decided to hike a portion of the south end today, which gives several views of Mt Baker and Baker Lake. At the trailhead there was only 1 other vehicle! What a surprise on such a beautiful sunny day. And during the entire hike only saw 3 other hikers. We went about 8.5 miles roundtrip. Lots of wildflowers are blooming, including bleeding hearts, trillium, miner's lettuce, coralroot and more.

Starting at the south end, we went through a nice mossy forest, crossing a few streams most with foot bridges. Around 1.5 miles we crossed a single log bridge spanning across Anderson creek.The stream is rippling over lots of stream boulders and then downstream you can view the outlet into a cove on the south end of Baker Lake. Another 0.3 miles was the spur to the Anderson point campsite, which we choose to go have lunch. To the campsite and shore is about 0.3 miles one-way. At the campsite we saw 4 tents, but no campers. We enjoyed lunch on the shore and only saw 1 boater the entire time. Then we forged on another 2.3 miles reaching the Maple Grove campsite and just relaxed along the shore soaking up the sunshine and spectacular beauty of Baker lake. At this point we opted to head back, as it's another 4.5 miles to the next campsite. As hiking back through the same section of trails another twist to the surrounding mossy forest beauty with the rays of sunshine beating through. Somewhere along the last 1.5 mile stretch we did come across a red beetle (which I've never seen) that was about 3/4 to 1 inch long. I noticed it because it was on the fur of my friends dog.

The hike was magnificent! :-)

This is a great hike for new backpackers or those with kids. The campgrounds were spacious and nice. I found the trail a little boring for my tastes though.

Great hike for a first backpacking trip. We stayed at the Maple Grove campground on June 1st and had some great views and good times. I was dissapointed though that someone had taken an a to several trees. But other than that the trail and camping were great.

It's a fun trail to hike on, however, it was a really bad choice for our first backpacking trip! We went on a weekend (starting Thursday night) in August 2011, and discovered that people who came with their boats took over most of available campsites. We're definitely going to stay away from overnight trails with boat access from now on. The trail itself was quite well kept (apart from a section that was overgrown and hard to get through), and was easy enough for a beginner hiker.

Great hike! Lots of waterfalls, wilderness, and spectacular view of Mt. Baker. Great place for a picnic. Trails are very well maintained and fairly easy to hike. Only downfall were the mosquitos around the marshy areas.

Gorgeous views for little effort! Well worth the walk.