Pinnacle Lake Trail

An absolutely amazing day for this hike. The colors of fall just popped everywhere along the trail.

The drive up to the trailhead was exactly as previous hikers have posted. You want a SUV of some sort to get through all those wild potholes. To consider this hike moderate I would say is definitely an accurate rating.

We wouldn't recommend this trail until two things happen: First, the 6-mile road leading to the trailhead is in horrible condition with terrible potholes. It hasn't been maintained for years. Just driving the road added so much time to the day hike. Secondly, the trail is not well-marked, and twice we found ourselves off the trail. Markers need to be added.

Huge potholes on the way to the trail head, take an SUV or truck if you have one, if not it will take forever and a half!

The hike up we lost the trail a couple of times. You wont get very far off trail though, keep an eye out for the plastic markers to stay on trail. Trekking poles are recommended, as they helped a ton!

The hike up is steep, so be mentally prepared. You’ll make your way up until you hit some logs laying down, go up and then you seem like you lose the trail. You can either go straight up, or take a right. Both will get you to where you’re going. Once you’re almost to the lake, you’ll come to a spot where you can go left or right, and on the right will be pink plastic bits tied to a tree branch, around eye level. GO RIGHT! Its approx. 1/4 a mile till the lake. Once you’re here though, put on your bug spray before you get to the water.

Once you go right, there’ll be some nice spots to see a pond and the moutains over yonder. You’ll keep going till you see purple wildflowers on the ground, and then you’ll see a pond. You’ll think this pretty thing of water is the lake, but keep going and you’ll reach the lake.

The pond has a pretty spot if you veer to the left to sit and eat some snacks for a minuet while looking at the trees and a small meadow! Once you’re done here, the lake is right around the corner. Its very rocky at the lake, but beautiful nontheless.

The hike down will feel like nothing. Its surprisingly easy going down than going up. The potholes going back to civilization are not any easier. You can’t win at everything!

I suggest a Truck or SUV. The road up has deep pot holes.

Some areas of the trail are difficult to find. Watch for tape markers it can help you navigate your way to the top and back.

Tons of blood sucking bugs. Be prepared.

Easy to lose the trail in some places. that being said, we didn’t get very far before realizing we were off trail and a little back tracking we were able to figure it out. DO NOT GO WITHOUT BUG SPRAY. There were nasty horseflies and other small bugs everywhere. Not the easiest trail ever, full of large logs and roots. Lastly, The way to the trailhead is miserable, huge potholes and really only room for one vehicle so if you happen to stumble upon someone coming down while you’re going up, good-luck.

High clearance vehicle required for gravel road or will have to drive very slow. The trail was very nice and lake is beautiful. Careful on the melting snow as to not fall through.

The road to the trail head has a lot of pot holes and very rocky.
I highly recommend off road tires and a high clearance vehicle.
Although I did it in my compact Hybrid Honda Insight (Prius), it was slow going and a lot of navigating, I am a pro driver but I still bottomed out twice as there is no way around a few deep pot hole spots.
If you ever wondered what stairclimbing up a dry creek bed was like in the middle of heavily rooted forest.....look no further, you have found it.
The trail gives you a taste of the root steps, stones for stairs, large loose stones path, and the erosion before you even get to the Y.
Once you begin the trek it goes from a forest, over and with water paths, and a lot of fallen trees.
Once past the ridge, it becomes a trek through water and bogs, there are a few snow melts and it is easy to get lost or miss the trail.
the current snow melt along the rock path down hides many voids in rocks n branches, so beware.
The bugs were out in force, and were around me from the parking lot until I returned back.
the path down is just as treacherous, the path is steep and very unsteady footing.
rocks move, roots have soil eroded so it feels as if you are walking up n down ladder steps, and general soul erosion has many dips in the path.
make sure you are sure footed and have proper footwear and gear.
I was in hiking shoes and I almost twisted each ankle from the decent and slick footing.

We just did some of the Pineclle Lake trail and did the short hike to Bear Lake. The road requires a high clearance vehicle, but is added fun if you like off-roading!

Wish there were more signs on where to go. But this is truely a hike of a lifetime!

the road up to the trail has a lot of potholes but managed to get a 2wd car through there, recommend bringing a 4wd. the trail was great, lots of snow up there!

Good trail, fun to navigate ✔️

road up needs a lot of work but manageable in a front wheel drive car. you will need to walk a little bit to get to the trail head due to still deepish snow on the service road.

the trail needs a lot of love. first part was rough but easy to follow. after about a half mile into the trail after is Y off from bear lake to pinnacle lake I had to turn around. a good amount of snow still and lots of fallen trees over the trail.

You have to park .2 miles from the trail head due to snow on road unless you have a big 4x4. Trail is not well maintained. We lost the trail a couple times during to wash outs. You really got to pay attention. Didn't make it to lake due to losing the trail, made it about 1.1 miles up.

Loved this trail. Great scenery and very isolated. If you want a good view of mount Pilchucks back side this is the trail for you!

this place was real hard for me and I lost my microspike!

We tried going up to this hike today but had to turn around due to snow. We passed a hiker who came down from the trail and he said some parts were so snowy he went waist deep. Unless you are prepared currently too snowy for a nice hike.

Nice trail. Road up to trailhead, 6 miles of muddy, potholes, bumpy. Used 4x4 truck. It says 4.4 miles but Fitbit says 6 miles round trip. Lots of root climbing & mud. Snow & muddy waters 1 mile from top. Bring poles, waterproof shoes. Lake was beautiful. Took 3.5 hours round trip, average hiker.

Hike on 10/14/17. There were more snow than I expected. My initial plan was to go up to bathtubs lakes but with 2 feet with snow I decided to head back. Started at 6:40am and was back 9:40am. I had the trail just to myself until 9am. If you want to avoid crowds this is the right trail. Easy to get out of trail, but not a big deal, just have to pay attention. GPS helps. Will definitely go back again to go all the way up.

Beautiful hike but it's easy to get off the main trail. When you find yourself at a small pond, keep going, you have two more small ponds to pass and then you will find yourself at the lake.

Bumpy ride up to the trail head, truck or SUV recommended.
It's a nice hike up to a beautiful view at the lake.
-follow the pink flagging tape trail markers
-kids can do the hike
-not very crowded which was nice
-not many bugs

The Trail head is a few miles uphill from the main road. It's a gravel road to the trail head full of giant pot holes. I drive a Corolla and was able to go slow a maneuver through them only scraping the bottom once. I made it about a mile up and couldn't pass washed out area without risking getting stuck. i saw a Subaru Outback back it across and several trucks. We ended up parking the car on the side of the path and walking up. It's not a short walk. over 3.5 miles and it was starting to get dark by the time we reached the trail head so we turned around. The 7 mile hike up the road was beautiful though. Encountered a water fall, streams, mountain views, and snow! another warning is teh parking lot is really small and there aren't any restroom facilities.

Nice easy hike. This morning it was raining and so there were lots of large pools and puddles on the trail. My foot sank down a good 6 inches into the mud. No bugs and by the time we got to the lake there was fog so we didn't continue on to bathtub lakes.

Prepare yourself for mud, also bring your bug spray! There were too many bugs to actually enjoy the time spent at the lake. Wasn't too many other hikers on the trail though.

I'd call this lake disappointment. The trail up was good. the lake was terrible. I have never ever seen so many bugs. there flying in my ears. eyes, and nose. and then they followed us most of the way down. we practically ran down. and the road up to the hike was so long and so bumpy and narrow. I'll never do this hike again.

This is a nice hike that is not too easy but short enough to keep it from being hard. It was misty and very muddy. I can see this is probably muddy most days. It is a small lake but has nice features. I could see some off trial options here if one was adventurous. . But lots of ridges to get misdirected on. Ill hide this one again.

I went about a year ago. it was a difficult hike then. we actually went to the far side of the lake and camped. it was perfect. fresh water running down the mt to filter, blueberries everywhere but they grew like clover. very short on the grd. tasty if I may say. definitely a good spot to fish as well. a small rainbow trout was delicious cooked in a banana peel. late in the year when it's hot without the worry of snow being up top, this hike is one of my favorites. better for an overnight or 2 is highly recommended.

This trail was very muddy and lots of small obstacles that made it more of a moderate hike. Quit a bit of snow on top still. The road up is not for small cars. It's really in need of some care.

It’s a rough, narrow and bumpy road to the trailhead. Got there in my Jeep Liberty with no problems. The first half of the hike was a rough and steep tangle of roots, with a few down trees to cross. The second half was mostly flat terrain with a lot of snow, about 2 ft. in May. Depending on the time of year, I would recommend waterproof hiking boots. Didn’t see too many other hikers on the way there, by the time we reached the partially frozen lake, we had it to ourselves. It was very rewarding, the lake was beautiful and isolated.

Maybe we took the wrong trail, but I doubt it. This hike was NOT easy. Climbing over rocks and massive tree roots in Themis and then scrambling over the rocks at the end. The lake is a pretty payoff. I'll be sure to do this one again when it's warmer and drier out.

Very easy short hike, good view of the lake though.