Iron Goat Trail — Saturday, Sep. 6, 2025

I arrived at the Scenic Trailhead off of Highway 2 around 7:45 AM to join a WTA work party today. There was only one other car in the parking area. There are privies at the trailhead and they are in good shape. There isn't any signage about whether a pass is needed to park but I displayed my Forest Service pass just to be safe. 

Our work party was about two miles away from the trailhead, so we assembled in the parking lot and walked about two miles along the Lower (ADA Accessible) Trail to find our tools. From there, we worked on clearing brush back from the trail and cleaning out drains along the next mile of trail, eventually working our way to the Martin Creek Trailhead to stash our tools so our crew leader could come pick them up after the work party. The Lower Trail is in good shape and it is about 3 miles from the Scenic Trailhead to the Martin Creek Trailhead. 

On our return trip, since we did not have to carry tools, we decided to hike the Upper Trail for a change of pace and because some people in the group had not hiked it. The Upper Trail is a little longer than the Lower Trail, mainly due to some switchbacks up and down at both ends. It is generally in good shape, but some sections are very brushy and in some places, it was difficult to see logs laying across the trail. Had I not been looking down, I would have tripped on them for sure. I also noticed a few water crossings which were easily navigated today. There are a few viewpoints along the way, which were quite smoky and hazy today. There are also some rocky sections along the Upper Trail where a trekking pole would have been nice to have today. Also, our group counted 25 steep switchbacks to get back down to the Scenic Trailhead from the Upper Trail. In all, we hiked about 6.5 miles today and arrived back at the trailhead around 2:45 PM.