Trip Report
Alpine Scramble - Big Snow Mountain
Most parties approach Big Snow Mountain via Hardscrabble Lakes (involving a bike approach). We opted for the Myrtle Lake route and climbed Big Snow Mountain via Northwest Shoulder—a quieter, more rugged alternative. The trail to Myrtle Lake is mellow after a steep first mile, but beyond the lake, it’s a full-on adventure: intense bushwhacking, boulder field hopping, and steep duff traverses with veggie belays. The alpine scenery at Big Snow Lake and Snowflake Lake was stunning and made the rugged approach worthwhile. I’d rate this scramble route S5/T3 overall, with two short but notable T4 sections.
Ambrose Zhi
- Sat, Sep 27, 2025 — Sun, Sep 28, 2025
- Alpine Scramble - Big Snow Mountain
- Big Snow Mountain
- Scrambling
- Successful
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- Road recommended for high clearance only
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FS Road 56 from end of Garfield Ledge Trailhead to Dingford Trailhead is close to 6 miles. It’s rough (rocky, some potholes, 2 dry creek crossings), but nothing too crazy. I recommend high clearance. There is a restroom at the TH.
Trail to Myrtle Lake was in great conditions (except for 3 blowdowns we had to hop over). Campsites can be found on the southern end of Myrtle Lake.
Plenty of water sources along the trail. For the scramble portion, you can filter water at Big Snow Lake or Snowflake Lake.
Big Snow Lake There is no summit register on the summit. So if you are planning a trip to Big Snow Mountain, you can pick one up for free from Mountaineers Program Center.
GPS track can be found here. Note: this track doesn't not include the hike in from Dingford Creek Trailhead to Myrtle Lake (about 5.4 miles and 2,400 feet in elevation gain).
Here is the general timeline for our trip: On Saturday, we left the TH around 7:45AM and made it to Myrtle Lake around 10:50AM. We took a longer break to set up camp, have lunch, and filter water. We started out summit push a little past noon and made it to the summit around 3:35PM. We left Big Snow Mountain summit at 4PM and returned to Myrtle Lake around 7:49PM...the descent took just as long as the ascent due to the steep scramble terrains and tricky navigation. We all slept in and had a leisure morning the following day (Sunday). We hiked out around 8:20AM and got back to car around 11:10AM.
I personally think Big Snow can be done in a day. Start very early (maybe sleep at the TH) and budget 11 to 14 hours for the whole trip
The hike to Myrtle Lake was straightforward. For the scramble portion, it started with some insane bushwacking at the southern tip of Myrtle Lake. It got better the further we hiked into the woods but bushwacking didn't end until we hit the boulder field somewhere between 3,800' and 3,900'. Instead of going straight up the boulder field (which would have got us cliffed out), we traversed right while trending upward, shooting for the narrow stream chute near Big Snow Lake. The chute was T2/T3 scrambling on dry rocks till we got closer to the lake, and we have some T4 moves on wet, mossy rocks.
There was a fainted boot path we followed from Big Snow Lake to Snowflake Lake, and we then skirted around Snowflake Lake on the west side. From the southern end of the lake, we continued up brushy slopes and went up a narrow/chossy gully (T3 moves mostly) that required precise footwork and rockfall management.
Once we got thru the gully, slopes opened up. We hiked up steep heather and talus slopes to the summit. Multiple routes were possible. Basically up the fall line would work. If you start doing any moves more than T3 here, you are probably off route. The easiest path was to follow the drainage/creek bed leading to Big Snow Mountain's crest.
We spent about 25 minutes resting on the top. We started heading down around 4:05PM, and I was a bit worried about not being able to get done with the boulder field section before dark. The descent took almost as long as the ascent due to steep scramble terrains, but we got out of the boulder field right before it got dark. Bushwacking in the dark was not fun but manageable with the headlamp. Anyhow, if your plan is to tag Big Snow Mountain on Day 1, leave the trailhead no later than 8AM.
