This is a popular trail, so I decided to start early on a Saturday morning. I arrived at 0730 at the Bonneville Trailhead across from the dam/powerhouse and there was only one other car in the parking lot. There's room for 20+ cars. There's even room for trucks + trailers for equestrians. You need a NW Forest Pass (or something compatible). The trailhead starts up the Tamanous Trail. The sign is pretty beat up, but you can't miss the trailhead. The first half mile is mostly uphill on a path that starts out fairly wide and then narrows out. It was wet, with some rocks, root, and forest debris, but only muddy in spots. At about .5 mile, the trail starts to level out where it connects with the PCT. The trail goes in and out of canopy until you get past 2 miles. Lots of flowers! There was some noise from SR14 and what sounded like gunshots, but it is not as recognizable the farther you go.

At 2 miles, the trail becomes much more narrow and rocky as you work your way up and past the power lines. The canopy is gone here, too. You come up upon Gillette Lake soon after the power lines and there are places to camp at the Lake. If you keep going, you'll cross a small bridge as you make your way to a pond with Western Pond Turtles. Continue on and you will hear the rush of water as you work your way down to the bridge over Greenleaf Creek. This is where I stopped and turned around.

The trail for the most part goes up and down all the way to the bridge at Greenleaf Creek. I found the rocky trail after mile 2 to be the most challenging. I saw birds, turtles, squirrels, etc. I did not see a bear though another hiker mentioned there was one in the area.  You will cross private property at times and there are boundary markers. You will also cross a number of forest roads, but they are well marked. I didn't see a lot of people early in the morning, but I saw about 15 people total on this trail. Total mileage for me was 7.5 miles round trip. 

We parked at the Bridge of Gods area and walked along the PCT to Gillette Lake (so didn't start at the trailhead mentioned in this trip report.)  The first bit of trail is above Hwy 14 so has road noise.  It was still pretty second or third growth sort of way.  The lake seemed to want more water, like just about everything else right now.  we left at 10 am or so and only saw 3 or 4 other groups.  Definitely not a high use trail.  The trail tread for much of the way is rather large angular rocks. I had to pay attention to my feet.  There was a guy selling honey out of his car where we parked at Bridge of Gods.  Yummy!

I hiked this trail after reading a pretty rosy WTA description.  For those considering camping at the lake, I would like to mention that in addition to logging trucks there is an active quarry close by.  It's on the map.  The road used by the trucks is above the lake and your day will be filled with the sound of the beep beep beep of said trucks backing up.  They start early and run late.  The thing I enjoyed the most was the Bonneville Visitor Center which is nearby.

I've hiked to Gillette Lake many times, and to the bridge once, today I decided to go further.  I followed the PCT to the Two Chiefs Trail (no longer marked), and followed that looking for Greenleaf Falls, which is supposed to be at the end.  Didn't find waterfalls, but lovely views from the slide under Table Mountain.
Anyway, the hike as far as Gillette Lake is easy to get to, with the trailhead right off the highway, and the lake is always lovely. The trail surface tends to be pretty rocky, which I don't enjoy much, but the area is beautiful.  Today there weren't many bugs until I got further on the trail.  The trail is in good shape, except the blackberry vines doing their very best to overgrow it.  The blackberries are ripe, which is great if you want blackberries, not as great if your dogs won't stop eating them and finish your hike.
Not a ton of wildflowers, but there were some pretty ones.

A lovely hike near Portland! We arrived in the late afternoon, peacefully enjoyed this relatively easy hike. Upon arriving to GIllette Lake, we were THRILLED to see other groups swimming in the small but nice water. We spent easily an hour swimming, and it felt like a proper start to summer! Not the prettiest hike, but it sure is nice!