Hiking Lone Goat & Snow Camp Mountain in Manning Park
Contents
Lone Goat & Snow Camp Mountain Hike Information
Difficulty: Difficult
Distance: 23.20Km
Elevation Gain: 1,270m
Highest Elevation: 2,005m
Average Gradient: 10.95%
Effort/Reward Ratio: High / High
Time Needed:
– Slow: 9 – 10 Hours
– Moderate: 7 – 9 Hours
– Fast: 6 – 7 Hours
Dogs Permitted?: Yes
Season: July – October
4×4 / High Clearance Required? No
Scrambling / Exposure: None
Lone Goat & Snow Camp Mountain Trail
Trailhead Coordinates: 49°04’05.6″N 120°53’46.9″W
Lone Goat & Snow Camp Mountain Overview
Lone Goat Mountain & Snow Camp Mountain are a pair of summits located in Manning Park, accessible via the East Skyline Trail. While it’s technically possible to hike these peaks individually, most people will combine them into one trip given their adjacent standing.
Compared to many hikes in Manning Park, this hike tends to be on the quieter side, with the Skyline Trail predominantly used for backpacking rather than day hiking. Both of the peaks require a slight detour from the trail itself, but nonetheless ascending each of these mountains is a very straightforward task suitable for all.
Much of the trail is a moderate grind through the forest, before breaking out into typically colorful alpine meadows that Manning Park is well known for, just below Snow Camp Mountain. From here on out the views are stunning, with amazing views of Frosty Mountain and the double summit of Hozomeen Mountain stealing the show. This is a great hike to do when the alpine flowers are in color, either in mid-summer or towards the fall, when the wildflowers change from their vibrant summer colors to striking autumn.
As noted the Skyline Trail is a popular backpacking trail, with one end in Manning Park and the other end in Skagit Valley Provincial Park. There is a campsite shortly after Lone Goat Mountain called Mowich Camp that many people hike to and stay the night (requires backcountry camping permit), before returning the next day. Summiting Snow Camp Mountain and Lone Goat Mountain on the way is no doubt a worthwhile option.
The season for Lone Goat and Snow Camp Mountain is relatively short, assuming you want to avoid snow (and you want to see the wildflowers). The terrain between the two peaks is an almost constant traverse across a steep hill, which would be challenging in snow/ice, so it’s advised to try and avoid snow where possible. As with many higher elevation hikes, the season tends to be from July to mid-October. Some people might choose to go a little earlier if they are willing to face snow. The trailhead is accessible for all vehicles.
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Is Lone Goat & Snow Camp Mountain worthwhile?
Lone Goat and Snow Camp Mountain is one of the quieter hikes in Manning Park, but it’s difficult to really understand why. The trail is very easy to follow, rarely that steep and easily accessible. The views once you reach Snow Camp Mountain are breathtaking, and the wildflowers, as with many hikes in Manning Park, are stunning. There is no real reason why this shouldn’t be as popular as the nearby Three Brothers Mountain, yet no doubt it sees considerably less traffic. Overall it’s absolutely a worthwhile hike.
How difficult is the hike to Lone Goat & Snow Camp Mountain?
With an 11% average gradient the hike is rarely that steep, but it’s a fairly consistent climb, especially up to Snow Camp Mountain at the start. It’s also a fairly undulating trail throughout, with uphill sections both inbound and outbound, spreading the elevation gain throughout much of the hike. Overall I’d say this hike is either on the higher end of moderate or lower end of difficult, depending on your experience.
Technically the hike is very straightforward with a groomed trail passing next to each summit. You will have to leave the trail briefly to summit Snow Camp Mountain (very straightforward), and also to summit Lone Goat. There is an obvious trail up the latter, which is much steeper than Snow Goat.
The only possible tricky section could be connecting Snow Camp and Lone Goat. When descending Snow Camp you have the choice of either descending back the way you came, which will add a decent bit of distance as you are backtracking away from Lone Goat, or you can continue along the Snow Camp/Lone Goat ridge and find your own way down to rejoin the Skyline Trail. This is what I did, but it did involve some steep terrain and route finding. It is much easier to retrace your steps, but also much slower.
Lone Goat & Snow Camp Mountain Route Information
The trail begins at the Strawberry Flats parking lot on Gibson Pass Road, a few kilometers beyond the turnoff for Lightning Lakes. It is a paved road accessible to all vehicles.
From the parking lot you follow the Strawberry Flats loop, following it for around 500m before reaching a junction where you’ll want to turn left. After following this trail for a couple of hundred meters, you’ll take one more left, joining the East Skyline trail.
The next 6 kilometers or so will follow the same trail without passing any junctions, and it will be a moderately steep forest climb the entire time. The trail is well groomed and easy to follow, though there are no markers on the trees (another reason this would be a difficult hike in snow without a trail to follow).
There’s not a lot to say about this section of the trail, it’s similar to many hikes in BC, a bit of a grind before you reach the good stuff. At around the 5km mark you’ll take a sharp switchback before the trail traverses across a steep slope. Here you’ll get your first views of the day, with Snow Camp, Lone Goat and Red Mountain all visible, as well as Hozomeen looming large behind.
Once you reach the 6.5km mark of the trail you’ll reach another junction whereby going left will take you to Lightning Lakes, and going right will continue on to Snow Camp and Lone Goat. Here you’ll get your first views of Frosty Mountain. Going right, you’ll now begin a fairly steep descent, following several switchbacks down the hillside, with viewpoints on each one. Unfortunately returning up these switchbacks on the way back is no fun at all.
After descending for around 150m you’ll reach the bottom of the descent, where again you’ll get a few different viewpoints looking south towards Frosty Mountain. Soon you’ll be back on the climb again though, in much the same terrain as you were in earlier. Thankfully in just 1.5km you’ll break out of the treeline as you approach the ridgeline leading up to Snow Camp Mountain.
From here you’ll instantly have some stunning views towards Frosty Mountain, as well as some beautiful wildflowers. The trail you are on does not go up Snow Camp Mountain, so here you will want to leave the trail and start working up the ridgeline towards the summit. There may be a trail somewhere for you to join, but I didn’t see one so I just went my own way. Around halfway to the summit I did join up with an obvious trail, though where it originated from I am not sure. After a fairly short and simple plod up the ride you’ll be on the summit. From here you will have some great views of Frosty Mountain and Hozomeen Mountain, as well as your next objective, Lone Goat Mountain.
After a break and some photos you have to decide which route you want to take to re-join the Skyline Trail. You can either go back the way you came, which is the easiest route, but goes the complete opposite direction to Lone Goat (and thus is much longer), or you can go up and over Snow Camp Mountain, following the ridge towards Lone Goat, before dropping off it and rejoining the Skyline Trail. There is no trail to follow if you do this route, you’d have to make your own way, and the terrain is pretty steep. At one section I butt slid through some rocky terrain, before a mostly steep heather descent. While a more difficult route, it’s much faster as you avoid backtracking. The choice is yours.
Either way you’ll soon be back on the Skyline Trail and continuing along it in the direction towards Lone Goat Mountain. You’ll now begin descending a fair amount, but the views will be constantly stunning, especially of Hozomeen Mountain. There’ll be beautiful wildflowers all over the trail as well, so take your time and enjoy it. The trail traverses across a steep slope, and this is the part that would prove difficult in snowy conditions.
After a kilometer or so of descending you’ll soon be back on the climb for the next 800m or so. At this point you’ll want to keep an eye on your map. Once you reach the southwest point of Lone Goat Mountain you should see a faint trail departing from the Skyline Trail up towards the summit. You’ll want to follow this, and over the next 500m or so you’ll be climbing quite steeply. Thankfully it’s fairly brief and in no time you will find yourself on the summit of Lone Goat Mountain. The views will again be beautiful, with much the same mountains in view. You’ll now also have some great views of Thunder Lake way down below you, as well as views of Snow Camp Mountain in front of Frosty Mountain. You might see Three Brothers Mountain off in the distance on a clear day too.
After finishing up at the summit, you simply head back the way you came. Many people continue on to Mowich Camp, in which case you’d continue along the Skyline Trail once more. Mowich Camp is not a lot further. Assuming you are returning to the trailhead, you’ll have a few uphill grinds remaining, one back up to Snow Camp Mountain and the other back up the switchbacks to the Lightning Lakes junction. After that it’s all smooth sailing back to the car.
When should I hike Lone Goat & Snow Camp Mountain?
As noted this hike is mostly a summer only hike when most, if not all, of the trail is snow free. The trail will not be very obvious with snow, and the traverse across the steep hillside between Snow Camp and Lone Goat will be challenging.
Top Tip
If you want to make things a little easier you can always just go up Snow Camp Mountain, where the views are great. You’ll miss a lot of the nicest part of the trail between the two peaks though.
If you want to make things much longer you can continue beyond Mowich Camp and hike Hozomeen Ridge.
In early summer, as with many alpine hikes, bugs can be challenging. Bug spray is therefore highly recommended.
