Dutch/Hidden Lakes
Summary
This trail climbs from 7,340 feet to 9,160 in 3 miles. If you want a good workout in a short time, this is the perfect hike. The trail that leads to Dutch Lake is tough (steep) and starts at a high elevation, which means you might start out-of-breath.
The last time I did this hike was on a 4th of July weekend and I encountered absolutely no one! I was amazed because the parking lots below were full, the campgrounds were full, and it was a holiday. Most of the visitors to Florence Lake come for the fishing, camping, or both. The few backpackers I encountered took the ferry across Florence Lake to start at a trailhead on the other side.
If you're staying in the campground at Florence Lake (Jackass Meadows), be sure the sample the water before drinking it. When I stayed there, it was full of rust from the pipes so I don't recommend it to anyone for drinking. The best advice I can give is to sample a few different water sources. If you don't find one that's palatable, then pump your drinking water straight from one of the many streams.
Parking/Trailhead
The trailhead is at the north end of Florence Lake at the lowest level parking.
This parking also serves the day-use area at the edge of the lake.
Trail Description
The simple wooden (and decaying) trailhead sign near the parking lot points left to the Florence Lake trailhead (1/4 mile) and right to Dutch and Hidden Lakes. There is no mileage information and the 7.5 topographic maps for this hike (Florence Lake and Ward Mountain) can only provide an estimate due to the switchbacks, which are not visible on the maps.
This trail starts out steep and stays that way for about 2 miles. At this point, the trail will alternate between moderately steep and very steep until you reach Dutch Lake. The first and largest of about 3 to 4 water sources encountered on the way to Dutch Lake is Crater Creek running from Crater Lake. The tree cover of Lodgepole Pines and Douglas Firs provides about 50% shade on a sunny day.
The trail up to Dutch Lake can sometimes be difficult to follow as it passes over many small granite rock fields. At these points, the prankster rocks did their best to lead me away from the trail and they succeeded many times. The only things that kept me on track during most of my wanderings were the stacked rock trail markers. The forest service tells us not to create rock stacks but I was glad they were there!
While approaching Dutch Lake from the trail, I noticed a great campsite directly to the left. Although there wasn't a soul in sight and the campsite was empty, there was a log-bench and a large stash of firewood and kindling. I just wish I could get service like this down in the campgrounds where I had to pay to stay! The other bummer of not finding anyone at the top, as I hoped, was that I couldn't bum any bug juice of anyone. The bugs were eating me ALIVE!
Upon reaching Dutch Lake, I was greeted by the incredible beauty of glassy water framed by green forest and a touch of granite on the opposite side. The sound of the lake even caught my attention . . . there wasn't any; with the exception of two or three birds periodically speaking up to let me know that I wasn't completely alone. Even more captivating was the concentric waves created by the feasting fish. If it wasn't for the mosquitoes, I could have stayed there all day.
Even though my topo didn't show it, my path led directly to the left (south) on a primitive trail that leads to Hidden Lake. After walking a short distance, the trail becomes a bit better maintained and easier to follow.
About 1/4 of a mile later I came across a view very similar to that of Dutch Lake . . . Hidden Lake. In my opinion, the differences between Dutch and Hidden lakes are few and here they are. Even though you can walk all the way around Dutch Lake, there is more usable camping space at Hidden Lake and more swamp space (meadow) at Dutch Lake. I found one campsite (not ground) at Dutch Lake, while I found four sites at Hidden Lake; three of them were fantastic! I'm quite sure that someone would be very upset that I'm putting these little secrets on the Net.
Since this was only a three-mile hike, when I was on the south side of Hidden Lake, I scrambled up the ridge directly south of the lake. This ridge in itself is a fantastic place to hang out and enjoy the forest. After eating lunch (ham sandwich), I headed east towards a small collection of four ponds (Southeast of Hidden Lake) that have no name on the topo. Therefore, until someone tells me what their names are, I'll call them the Boulder Ponds.
Supplies
Use the standard Day Hike Checklist for this
hike.
Itinerary
Everything I described above in the Trail Description
was done in about 5 1/2 hours. Since it takes 3 hours to get to the trailhead, my
suggestion is to camp at Florence Lake or the nearby Ward Lake.
(Back to Top)