A great alternative to the traditional Summit Lake hike. I’ll spare the wayfinding directions (the previous reviews got us there no problem). The road to the Clearwater trailhead is definitely worse than the road to the Summit Lake trailhead in a couple spots. Got to the trailhead in a Forester no problem, though plenty of moments that required patience and caution.

Trail isn’t terrible but hard to follow at times, some pretty big logs to jump over, and definitely is treacherous in a couple parts. Take as much time as you need. A few sections rival Mailbox Peak in their steepness. Definitely not for anyone in questionable physical condition.

All in all was a lovely rigorous little hike. No bugs. One group of campers we chatted with for a moment, they came up the same trail we did. Otherwise we saw no one, a rare treat considering how popular this hike is. Spent awhile at the top and took a dip in the lake before heading back down. Lake was cold, not cold plunge cold, but not a comfortable temperature for sure.

No animal sightings on the trail but lots of unidentified scat. Large elk seen on the road to the trailhead.

Quick overnight to explore Celery Meadow and the condition of roads and trail. I included Summit Lake as I'm sure many of you are trying to find a way in.

From the coke ovens followed 7710/7720 11.9 miles to parking spot at the hairpin. Hyundai Tucson did great. Didn't scrape at all. In my opinion, the road up isn't as bad as some have reported though does have plenty of potholes, some fairly deep. The pavement on the 2nd bridge at the crossing of East Fork South Prairie Creek is washed out but easily passable hugging the inside against the guardrail. Many potholes were even worse than this crossing. So you made it... now what?

Could not find any resemblance of a trail. Maybe I didn't look hard enough but I believe it to be non-existent. It was an absolutely brutal climb pushing through the trees and the rotting forest floor. Much of this climb was spent barging through branches and a million spider webs with active spiders. I would consider most of my route up and down a bushwhack. I considered turning back at one point due to the sheer density of trees, small and large, that my trekking poles lead me through. Head down! I put my reading glasses on for eye protection. Yes it was that bad.

Arrived at Celery Meadow to find pure solitude! Amazing evening with the birds, elk and chipmunks. Walked up to check out the lake (swamp) then turned back to make the descent. Oh boy. I recorded the track down which is roughly what I took up. I'm an experienced, agile hiker and found this travel to be quite challenging given the softness of the forest floor (mud baskets would be excellent here) and again the density. Trail conditions are marked on the map but it's mostly off-trail. It is 1900' in 1.7 miles so yeah, steep.

I am quite scratched, banged and bruised up after barging through trees and sliding down loose material. Sketchy! Take what you want from all this, the spiders would be preferred. I'll keep the Barred Owl!

Consider this more of a road access report than a trip report, since people will be curious about the area. 

Obviously, the closure of the Fairfax bridge is a bit of a problem for accessing this trail. However, technically there is backdoor access from Wilkeson. Essentially taking forest roads by turning right at the Sunset Lake Camp up the dirt road. What you’re looking to access is Forest Road 7710. 

* Most* of 7710 is in decent enough shape. There is one spot where the entire right side of the road is just gone, a few potholes here and there but generally nothing terrible. You’d want some clearance and I wouldn’t take a Civic or something, but my Passport was ok. 

Where the real problem is at the East Fork South Prarie Creek (about 10 miles from where you turn off the paved road) where there is a huge drop right before the bridge. Hard to estimate but at least one wheel would be doing a bigger drop than coming off of a sidewalk. See attached photo. My main concern is that getting up wouldn’t be an issue, but the return trip would have the underbody take quite a hit. 

This does get within 1 mile of the first bit of marked trail, although that section of the Clearwater Trail climbs 1000 feet in 2/3 of a mile so. Have fun. 

if you had the clearance (8 was at a cusp, 10 probably more than fine), or brought a sturdy board as a ramp, 7710 continues about 4 miles past this bridge. Didn’t make it on this journey, but my impression is that the road deteriorates fast once at the end of that. In any case the goal is to access the Clearwater Trail (photo 2). 

Also wanted to see what road access to Gleason Hill to access the Carbon River area. Signs seem to indicate that the road itself is private property and gates can shut at any time (hypothetical route marked on map in pic 3— would spit you out at Cayada Creek Road). Disappointing because that means the easiest access to that area is near 12 mile hike starting near Carbonado (and they don’t allow overnight parking there). I do know plenty of people seem to bike this outlined route however, judging by all the activity on Strava I see. I do however question the legality of that, and wouldn’t endorse anyone to do so without clarification. 

So with all that said, did end up driving to Carbonado and parked right before the road closure to walk the trail to the bridge. Very depressing walk the had me contemplating my favorite places in the entire state and how I can’t access them. The Carbon River road trail was a place I’d go to probably 6-7 times a year if I ever needed to clear my head. 

Do note that not only can you not go onto the bridge, the road itself is flagged no trespassing for pedestrians. This is not immediately obvious if you take the dirt trail and thought to road walk back to the car, as you’d end up bypassing any signs telling you not to do that on the way in. On the plus side the dirt trail is in lovely condition, although the first mile has an alarming number of blackberries. 

I am considering maybe making a backpacking trip to this area in a week or two, using the Melmont Ghost Town trail as access. 

This was my first Backcountry Response Trip, and it set a high bar!  Worked with nine other volunteers, our group leader, Barbara, and a couple Forest Service employees to build a puncheon bridge at Twin Lakes and other trail improvements along the popular Summit Lake Trail.  The people were great, weather was amazing, the bugs not bad at all, the lake was pristine, and it was such a privilege to be able to get to this currently closed trail and do the work.

For others that might be toying with the idea of a work party...do it!  Yes, you'll be tired, but you won't be wrecked.  You work at your pace in the great outdoors, and give back to something that I KNOW gives a lot to you.  Maybe someday we'll work on the trail together - say hi!

Once again just so you know, this is not the family friendly hike to Summit Lake we are all used to. If you hated the road to the normal trail you’ll hate road 7710 (please double check the road number) ten times more. Also the summit lake normal trail which cannot be reached due to the Fairfax bridge closure is straightforward, no obstacles and a nice gentle grade. This one starts at the end of road 7220 outside of Wilkeson. You start on the Clearwater trail and about the time it bends down to the left towards celery meadows you’ll go to the right which becomes trail 1177a Rooster Comb. This is an old abandoned trail but there has been some recent flagging and is mostly easy to follow. Be prepared for a few steep ups and downs. There are some very steep parts you’ll need to hold onto trees for. The drops here are serious and you don’t want to fall here. It would not end well. Please know your limits and this hike is not family friendly. After getting through here it’s a steep grind up to the ridge above summit lake. From there it’s the summit lake trail of old that circles the lake. 5 of us spent 4 hrs on hammocks and exploring the lake. It’s a wonderful piece of solitude with the road closure as we were the only ones there. 
1 know your abilities. 
2. High clearance vehicle. 
3. Enjoy and pack out your trash. 
4. Be bear aware.  We saw at least 8 piles of very fresh scat. When exploring seldom used trails you will probably run into wildlife.