A somewhat rough narrow trail, not for the beginner hiker but not hard. Narrow in places and slippery with loose pebbles and dirt. Abundant sweet berries. Some unclear intersections so use an app to guide you. Stopped at Twin Lakes first then on to Lake Lillian and had a nice dip there.

Trail was in good condition, but for whatever reason, several of our members slipped today (the trail was mostly dry).Twin Lakes isn't a great swimming lake: too shallow (not sure how clean it is), but Lake Lillian is a good swimming lake. Remember this date for next year as about 1/2 of the trail was full of the best wild blueberries I've ever had! Warning: too many berries can, and did, cause tummy pain :-). WTA description is very accurate, however I never saw a waterfall cascading down Rocky Run (maybe we were too late in the season). Just before popping into the Lake Lillian area, you can see Lake Laura far below. 

#Gratitude

Lake Lillian and Rampart Lake via 'back door' trail.

The last 2 miles of dirt road to the backdoor trailhead is very narrow. Watch for the pull-outs every 1/10th mile as you may have to backup for opposite direction vehicles. Pulled the rearview mirrors in; small branches/plants touching car on both sides.  Could probably get down this road in a 2wd (ex: Prius NO, Corolla Yes) except there is no way to pick your line due to the over growth on both sides of the road, you have to drive straight through some of the rough spots. I would not drive in/up the road in the afternoon, or out/down in the morning, due to the high likelyhood of opposite direction traffic.

The trail is rough and steep most of the way from start to Ramparts (steeper than old mailbox). We had a few slips on the way down; recommend lite gloves for scrambling (gardening gloves are great). Lillian lake was very pretty, not a lot of people, good swimming on east shore, camping on west.

Before Rampart, at the tiny creek, the trail splits and the views are great whether you take the left or right unmaintained trail. Though the left on the way TO Rampart is very steep downslope. Recommend going right on the way in and left on the way out.  

LOTS of folks at Rampart lakes.

I ended up doing this hike as a loop for an overnight backpack, although I hadn't planned it that way. Started at the Lake Margaret TH around 3pm Friday before Labor Day weekend and there were about 5 other cars in the lot besides mine. I think I passed all five of those groups heading out as I went in. Kept going past the Lake Margaret turnoff on the Lake Lillian trail, which ended up being, as others have noted, a long slog of steep descents then steep climbs, until FINALLY I got to Lake Lillian. At first I was confused whether there were any campsites there, just staring with exhaustion at a layer of bugs on the lake's surface in the dimming evening light, when around the corner comes someone on a paddle board! He showed me where to find the campsites, but he said it was their secret spot so I'm not going to give details here. If you really want to camp at Lake Lillian, put a comment below and I'll give you the scoop - I know I would have appreciated the info before getting there. The paddle boarders left around sunset to take the 1.6 mile trail back down to the Rampart Ridge Back Door TH - brave souls doing that trail in the dark! The next morning I woke up with the decision to try the trail to the Rampart Ridge Back Door TH and walk the road back to the Lake Margaret TH, to avoid the up-and-down slog and to check out Lake Laura. People started hiking past Lake Lillian up to Rampart Ridge at 8:30am, and by 11:00 there was a pretty steady stream of people going up the Back Door trail to Rampart Lakes for a day hike or overnight. This was surprising given that it's a super steep, rocky, rooty, insanely unstable trail, and at Lake Lillian there's a pretty scary looking rock ledge you have to cross on the right side of the lake. I also got stung by a wasp or something like that - be careful of nests along the trail! Lake Laura was sweet, it looks like it would be fun to swim to the island. I didn't see any campsites there though. About the time I arrived at the Back Door TH, someone else was also coming back from his hike. Ben the Bear Hunter graciously gave me a cold beverage and a ride all the way back to my car. Thanks to Ben! His big truck definitely grazed against the bushes all along the road but handled the deep pot holes just fine, and we had to do a tricky maneuver when we came upon a car coming the other way. Back at the Lake Margaret TH on this beautiful Labor Day Saturday afternoon, the lot was full and at least ten cars were parked along the road to it. Were all those folks going to Lake Margaret and Mount Margaret? Those places wouldn't be able to hold that many people! I was glad to be heading home.

This is a beautiful time of year for hiking. The recent rain has freshened up the vegetation and the air.  

We did a one way hike with a bike shuttle starting from Laura Lake Backdoor and ending at the Margaret Lake TH.  The two trailheads are 3.2 miles apart but since there was 500 ft elevation gain I decided to use the E-Bike for the shuttle. We locked up the bike in the woods near the Margaret Lake TH and started the hike at Back Door.  The road to the Margaret Lake TH is in very good condition. The road to Back Door has some fairly large potholes that are best taken with a medium to high clearance vehicle. Encroaching branches will also brush your car so I wouldn't do it if your paint job is precious to you.

The hike up to Lake Lillian is very steep but the trail is in good condition.  The section from Lake Lillian to Mt Margaret is very scenic and passes by Twin Lakes. There are lots of ripe Huckleberries in this section.  

The unmarked side trail to Mt Margaret is very steep but less slippery now that the soil is not too dry.  There are great views north to the peaks deep within the Alpine Lakes Wilderness. One the return segment we had intended to do the side trip down to Margaret Lake but the group was lacking the necessary motivation...

The bike ride back to the car was pleasant on an E-bike.  It definitely can be done on a regular mountain bike but the up hill part would be a bit tiresome after a moderate hike.

One Way 6.4 mi, 2200 ft with 3.2 mile/500 ft bike shuttle