Ginnette Lake

The trail begins hiking south from the Pacific Crest Trail’s White Pass trailhead. You begin by crossing over a small creek — a great spot to filter and fill water bottles if needed. Before you get too far, double-check that you filled out a free Goat Rocks Wilderness permit from the informational sign in the trailhead parking lot.

After 1 mile of hiking, the trail begins to steepen as you start to ascend up towards the lakes’ basin. After a little less than 1 more mile of this steeper hiking, finish your climb as the trail flattens, carrying you the final 0.1 mile to the boundary of the Goat Rocks Wilderness and your first destination: Ginnette Lake.

There is a small backcountry campsite on the shore of the trail with access to swimming and fishing for cutthroat trout. Ginnette Lake makes a great spot to take a break if planning to hike further out onto the PCT or to eat lunch if this is your final destination of the day.

If traveling further to Hell Lake, follow the PCT for another 0.4 miles. At this point, you will pass a small pond on the left side of the trail with an easily missed, unmarked boot path that will take you left toward Hell Lake. The brush makes your trail difficult to see in sections, but the tread remains intact and easy to follow. The spur continues for another 0.3 miles before opening up to the shores of Hell Lake. Here you’ll find more backcountry camping options and another cutthroat-trout-stocked lake away from the more popular lakes along the main trail.