West Fork Foss River and Lakes — Friday, Jul. 10, 2026

Headed up West Fork Foss for an overnight with my brother.

We arrived at the trailhead around 1 p.m. on Friday and the lot was fairly full with just a few pull-in spots left.

The road to the trailhead is smooth up until the last 1.5 mile or so, which has some big but easily avoidable potholes.

The trail condition overall is meh. It’s nice up until Trout Lake but after that, it’s just really rocky and narrow. You have to watch your feet constantly to avoid tripping on loose rock and there is very little room anywhere to pull aside and let folks pass. There are a number of big trees down, too, which were inconvenient for a shortie like me.

We decided to go another mile past Big Heart Lake up to Atrium Peak. We were hoping for bigger views and a reprieve from mosquitoes. The views are definitely better up high, but the mosquitoes were unfortunately unavoidable. I came back with a lot of bites despite deet & a head net.

We set up camp here and then headed out the next morning around 8. LOTS of folks were hiking in on Saturday as we descended, which made for a slow descent as we let others pass uphill. But, it was well worth it to head out on Saturday and avoid Sunday westbound Hwy 2 traffic.

*I saw one fresh fire ring built at a campsite beside Big Heart — so just wanted to add a reminder that fires are not allowed beyond Copper Lake*