Lower Red Pine Lake Loop

Dogs No Dogs

Features Fall Colors · Lake · River/Creek · Views · Wildflowers · Wildlife

Lots of people camp up here, even in the summer, so we just need to be respectful.

This short trail goes all the way around Lower Red Pine Lake, and provides access to several good camping spots around the lake. As it travels around the east side, the trail is well-defined and maintained and makes for easy running. As it goes around the south side, the trail narrows in places and splits off into different spur trails to camping areas and so becomes slightly harder to follow, but as long as you generally keep close to the lake you can't go wrong.

The trail crosses the inlet of lower Red Pine Lake at the far southern end, and then enters a portion of the trail where it narrows and the vegetation grows thickly around it. At the southwest end, the trail somewhat disappears in a pile of large talus, but the trail can be seen on the other side, and the talus can be somewhat fun to jump across.

After getting back on the trail, it winds through a small forest and then the trail opens up again as it reaches the dam at the northwest end of lower Red Pine Lake. It can be a fun balancing exercise to run across the top of the concrete portion of the dam, or it is also easy to just run on either side of the dam across to the trail on the other side. The trail then passes by another patch of camping areas, and then meets up with the original Red Pine Lake Trail again.

Wildflowers.