Heather Lake Trail - Olivia Michelle

Heather Lake Trail is the most beautiful trail I’ve ever seen in the winter time. This trail is not too long or too hard, is dog friendly, and offers stunning views.

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Heather Lake Trail
5 miles, Moderate
2.5 hours from JBLM
Dog Friendly
This trail is absolutely stunning. Our eight year old was able to do it (we hike frequently) and we stopped for a few breaks on the way up. The only bathroom is a port-o-potty type hut at the parking lot. It was awful when we went (SO smelly). The road to get to the trailhead is pretty bad. I would recommend NOT driving a small car that is low to the ground, the pot holes were HUGE. I did not see any signs saying a certain pass was needed.

It was a relatively busy trail. Keep in mind that in the winter it gets dark really early so make sure to start by noon or you’ll need flashlights on your way back.

There is actually no snow on the trail until you get close to the lake. So majority of the time you are walking through a lush shaded forest.

This is a VERY wet trail. A few times you will actually walk through a shallow stream on the trail. There is also plenty of muddy spots due to all of the water streaming down. Make sure your shoes are waterproof at least to the ankle.

The temperature drops drastically when you get close to the lake and the snow starts. The snow is not thick enough to need snowshoes but spikes would have been helpful.

The trail is heavily trafficked so you can mostly tell where it is by the foot prints, even though it is covered in snow.

The view of the frozen lake is absolutely breath taking. These photos could be a postcard.

WORD OF WARNING: We walked to the edge of the bank to get these photos. While you cant tell in the photo, if you get close to the lake you CAN tell where the bank ends and the iced over water begins. Please don’t walk out on the frozen lake. Most of the edges aren’t even frozen. Walking on ice is VERY dangerous. We saw several people sitting on camp chairs in the middle. Just remember, if you fall in you will probably die. There is no cell service and by the time an ambulance could get there and get up the trail to get you….

We like to stop and take photos (clearly) and we take breaks with Aurora, so overall it took us about two hours to get to the lake and about an hour to get back.