Doubletop Mountain Trail #7131

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Features Commonly Backpacked · Lake · River/Creek · Views · Wildflowers · Wildlife

The Doubletop Mountain Trail start is shown on maps to be at the Willow Creek Guard Station accessed by Willow Creek Road. However, the stretch of trail from this starting point to New Fork/Doubletop Cutoff #7186 goes through the 2008 New Fork fire burn area for over a mile (as shown on satellite views). This burn area is littered with a LOT of deadfall and it is unknown (to me) how passable the trail is, through the deadfall before New Fork/Doubletop Cutoff is reached.

At the (unsigned) junction with New Fork/Doubletop Cutoff, go right/east to continue on Doubletop Mountain Trail, if you have hiked up from the Willow Creek Guard Station area. Most, if not all hikers come up to this junction on the New Fork/Doubletop Cutoff, and just go straight through the junction to continue on Doubletop Mountain Trail.

Still in the burn area, the trail is well maintained. After another mile in the burn area, healthy, unburnt forest is reached. And another 1.2 miles more in the pretty forest, brings one to lovely Rainbow Lake, a great place to camp after all the climbing to get here.

Leaving Rainbow Lake behind, the forest thins as the climb tapers off. Open alpine is reached 0.6 miles after leaving Rainbow Lake. From here on Doubletop Mountain Trail is in the alpine high country. The trail travels through grassy, rocky terrain, dotted with white pines and beautiful lakes. There are awesome views of the Wind River Range spine in the distance to the east, for the next two miles as the trail approaches, and then passes Doubletop Mountain in the meadows, very close to one of Doubletop Mountain's two summits.

The trail then descends a bit on the east slopes of Doubletop Mountain to reach Palmer Lake and the junction with Palmer Lake Trail #7129. After passing Palmer Lake, the trail does short, small ups and downs, as it continues rolling along in this spectacular high country, passing several lakes and tarns. The largest being Cutthroat Lake and No Name Lakes, before reaching Summit Lake.

At Summit Lake, Doubletop Mountain Trail ends as it meets the Highline Trail #7094, that is also the CDT (Continental Divide Trail).

The majority of this trail is in the high country - grassy, rocky hills and bluffs, dotted with trees (pines). The west end of this trail drops down into forest with occassional small meadows. And the very west end is a regnerating burn area (2008 New Fork fire). In this burn area are young (lodgepole) pines, grasses, and an abundance of deadfall (the burnt trees).