Goat Lake
North Cascades
As of November 16, 2025, Goat Lake trail conditions are challenging due to significant water. Expect multiple slick water crossings, deep mud, and flooded sections. The trail has a downed tree requiring careful navigation and rough puncheon/bridges, with one sketchy bridge leaning precariously. The trailhead bathroom is unusable, and the road has numerous potholes.
Earlier reports in September indicated good trail conditions with beautiful fall colors, accessible water sources in the upper basins, and opportunities for dispersed camping. Bear activity was noted in late September, with recommendations for bear canisters and vigilance. Cougar encounters were also reported in early September, advising hikers to be aware.
generated from 27 reports
Sources
Beyond wet! A couple slick water crossings, some deep mud and slightly flooded sections, one problem tree down, and some puncheon/bridges/boardwalks in rough shape. Poles aren't really needed for most...
What an incredible area. The fall colors are really popping. I explored the clockwise loop option via Berry Patch trailhead today as a recon for future trips. Did not disappoint!Started at Berry Patch...
We arrived at the trailhead on Saturday around 12:30pm for an overnighter at Goat Lake. The parking lot was very full when we arrived, but we somehow managed to find a final spot near the trailhead. T...
Wonderful day hike. We arrived at the trail Wednesday at 10:30am to a few cars. We took the upper loop and didn’t encounter anyone expect cobwebs. When we got to the lake, we even had the little beach...
Be aware that there have apparently been two recent cougar encounters on the trail! The message board had a sign encouraging folks to be aware and use bear spray (but the note wasn’t dated). I didn’t ...
Heavy smoke in the Goat Lake area this morning: I headed up the Goat Ridge Trail to Goat Lake on Tuesday, September 2nd, intending to do a multi-night trip. Tuesday was warm and a bit hazy, but beauti...
First things first, someone (or someones) did a smash-and-grab sometime between Sat morning (30-Jul) and Sun morning (31-Jul) as our car had 2 smashed windows and we could see several other piles of s...
A picturesque lake at the end of nice forested walk!Road:Minivan approved. Easy for all cars.TH:One toilet that is well used. The parking lot was overfilled this Saturday morning.Trail:SO many dogs.Wh...
Great day for this one!Got to the trailhead around 8:15am on the Saturday during Labor Day weekend. The main lot had filled a little earlier and a few of us started parking along the side of the road....
Spent the night before hitting the trail at Walupt Lake campground. It was nice to be relatively close. (30 mins)We started at Berry Patch Trailhead (TH) around 9AM. The parking lot was full but we pa...
Want to ask something specific about Goat Lake?
Use AI-powered search to dig into trip reports for this trail.
Search Goat Lake