I managed to fit this 13+ mile, 2500-ish' hike into today's sunshine window.  Trail was in great shape.  I only saw 2 groups of people all day.  Echo Lake is gorgeous!  Now I have a hankering to do a 15+ mile loop next year:  Naches to PCT to Maggie, and back via TR1176!

Lovely, cold, rainy fall day on the trail. This is a gem of a trail and I was glad to see WTA's survey about the area earlier this year. The Greenwater area deserves love and is especially good for the shoulder seasons.

We hiked about 3 miles, turning around at a large camping area with a striking blaze of vine maple. Rain in the morning transitioned to light snow, which did not stick.

There is a downed tree on the trail alongside one of the lakes. Not a problem for humans, but likely impassable for horses.

ok.  This is the trip report that I wish I would have read before we left.  The road to Greenwater trail is perfect.  Paved.  Lovely.  We arrived at about 7:45am on a Friday morning and there was only 1 other car in the parking lot.  The green water trail is a dream both in the way it is maintained and the beauty.  It is soft, gradual, shaded, and there are so many great, well-constructed bridges.  You will come to the green water lakes  which are kind of like ponds but there are some campsites and it is simply pretty! Keep going! When you reach an area that has 2 bridges-cross one, walk a few steps and then cross the second one- you have reached a beautiful camping area!  Right before the first bridge is a great site BUT you will have lots of company as people will always be walking by on the trail.  So this is not private.  BUT, if you walk on the other side of that bridge-before crossing- you will find more campsites way off the trail and you can't see it from the trail.  There were at least 3-4 nice flat spaces for tents. The trail is not obvious so you have to be looking for it.  If you cross both bridges and continue on the trail and then look back across the river, you will see the camping area but it is not obvious how to get there.  So, the answer is BEFORE the bridges (if coming in from green water trailhead). Ok, back to this report... We got to lost lake and were VERY disappointed.  The lake has dried up so much since I was last here, it looked brown and muddy and the whole area has burned so the trees were-ummm, grey.  There were some good campsites here but the lake definitely did not look enticing for swimming or gathering water and the view was less than inspiring.  So, we put our packs back on and walked BACK toward the 2 bridges, that is when we spotted the sites and couldn't figure out how to get there but eventually did. About 1/4 mile from the bridges I have been mentioning is a site on my map labeled backpacking site.  It is also a really great area and right near the water and just a tiny bit off the trail.  

The second day we went to explore Echo Lake.  The trail is so great, just a gentle nice hike.  The lake was again a bit of a disappointment due to the burn.  But the lake was very big and glistening.  We didn't explore much because of time. We loved out campsite, it felt very private and the rushing river sounds were the perfect lullaby! 

Such a hidden gem! Forest road in FANTASTIC condition ... completely paved and smooth. Great trail for babywearing. Some target shooting in area but is prohibited around trail (we did hear it echoing during the first couple miles). Miles of gorgeous old growth forest! Mostly doug fir, western red cedar and hemlock with a surprising amount of yew and one ginormous sitka spruce all by itself a little over 3 miles in. We turned around after 3.5 miles a little bit after entering Norse Peak Wilderness. The greenwater lakes seem like beaver ponds (we saw chewed wood) and we really enjoyed all of the birds, insects, and plants that are thriving in these ecosystems. Also saw the most banana slugs I have ever seen on a hike today with the first rainy day being yesterday.... well over 50 spotted just in the vicinity of the trail. The geography of the Greenwater area is very distinctive as well and I'm interested to learn more. Lots of amazing campsites on this hike too. A couple steep dropoffs on the sides every now and then but nothing sketchy - trail is very well maintained. 10/10, will be returning!

This was a hike just to Greenwater Lakes. (It would be great if WTA could create a separate entry for just those lakes since it’s a popular destination!)

I wanted something short and mellow today, without a long drive to the trailhead, and Greenwater was perfect. The lovely trail through the forest was in great shape, including the bridges, except for one blowdown (see photo, which shows the tree and the bypass that is being used around the side of it). The soothing soliloquy of the river was a constant companion and there was minimal shooting range noise today until I was just about back to the trailhead.

I arrived at 10:45am and the main parking lot was full but there was plenty of space in the gravel lot just around the corner. (Where I had the pleasure after the hike of meeting some very cool pack llamas and their super nice humans. Hope you all had a great outing!) Pit toilets were open and stocked but had quite a stench.

Trail traffic was fairly light for a holiday weekend, and I had long stretches of solitude on the trail as well as sitting by the river. (I had hoped to eat lunch at the lake but some folks had set up their campsite right on the lakeshore so it felt awkward to hang out there.)

And although I am wishing to cling to the long days and flower filled meadows of summer, the unmistakable signs of autumn are starting to appear. Vine maples both on the trail and all along Hwy 410 are turning already despite the calendar still saying August…