Grizzly Lake Trail

This is a 4.2-mile out-and-back from Grizzly Lake Trailhead (1K8) on Grand Loop Road. You cross Obsidian Creek, work through a wet meadow, climb steeply over a ridge, then descend to Grizzly Lake, tucked between two ridges. Allow about three hours for the mapped route and return. Published mileage ranges from 3.6 to 4.2 miles; the mapped path reaches the shore at about 2.1 miles one way, so 4.2 is the safer planning figure. No pets are allowed.

The trail starts beside the road and crosses a small wooden bridge into a marshy meadow with grasses and wildflowers. Around four-tenths of a mile in, steep switchbacks climb the hillside in two bursts, gaining roughly 500 feet to a ridge. The climb is followed by a steep descent to the lake, so the return means climbing back over that ridge.

Many of the dead snags and open slopes come from the 1988 fires. The hillside had burned before; when it burned again, stark photographs of the slope helped create the false impression that the whole park had been devastated.

The lake sits in a narrow basin between ridges, with grassy edges, fallen logs and pines. It covers about 135 acres and reaches 36 feet at its deepest; brook trout live here. From the established shore, pine branches frame the dark water and pale rocky ridge beyond, a distinctive view worth pausing for.

The mapped day hike turns back at the lake. The path continues around its north end, crosses the outlet and follows Straight Creek toward the Mount Holmes–Winter Creek junction, with backcountry campsites along the way. That longer itinerary is outside this route; overnight camping requires a backcountry permit.