Lakes Basin Campground is an awesome campground in a great location.
We stayed at site 15 and to my surprise, it was right next to a trailhead! Unfortunately I was planning on finding hikes in the area once we got to our destination only to find I had no service… So I had no idea what the trail was called, how long it was, nothing. There was a geographical map at the start but I am not good at reading maps…
But we still explored! After some research, I found that the hike is called Long Lake Trail Loop! This was an awesome hike. It was hard to believe it was right behind our campsite. You pass several lakes and come across various terrain. There is so much to see, the greenery is beautiful, wild flowers, even a waterfall! (this was nice since Frazier Falls was non existent when we made the hike to see it)
Since there were so many lakes, I thought we had made it to the Long Lake… Only to find out we still had a ways to go (after spending 30 minutes to find a trail that looped back) Once we got to the real Long Lake, it was comical how I thought the previous pond was the showstopper.
This lake is BIG! Way up in the mountains, neither one of us was expecting it. We weren’t even able to see across the lake due to the smoke. The way back down was a lot easier, you do have the option to hike on the opposite side of the lake from where you come up or you can follow the side you are on. We stayed on the closer side since we had wasted a good half hour and had no food…
Overall, this is a super cool and unique hike. I will definitely be doing it again next summer and now I will know the direction to take 🙂
Later that same day, we decided to check out Salmon Lake. It is less than ten minutes from the campground and it was by far my favorite! There were more people at this one. People were swimming, paddle boarding, fishing, it was nice to see so many people out enjoying the outdoors.
We kayaked around the lake and then tied our kayaks up to this dock in the middle of the lake and hung out there. We shared it with this really nice family and their puppy. We jumped off, swam, and just had fun. There is also a little island in the middle, I saw a couple people jumping off the rocks there too.
This day was so much fun and it’s partially because it was all so unexpected. That hike was nothing I had envisioned in my mind and we almost didn’t even go to Salmon Lake. So many surprises! It was a great last before having to pack up and go home.
I recommend everyone check out this area! There is so much to see and explore and do!
I made this short vlog with a few clips from the camping trip! Let me know what you think.
Boundless Adventures 