17 min
Overview
A great short hike, backpack, or bike ride for kids, the gently undulating Bobby Lake Trail deposits you on the shore of a lovely mountain lake with Maiden Peak rearing to the south. There are campsites near the lake shore, and Bobby Lake is rated one of the best swimming lakes in Oregon! As with the entire Waldo Lake area, mosquitoes can be a problem, but the swarms should have abated by mid-August. The Bobby Lake Trail begins on the east side of the road, while the even shorter (1/2 mile) trail to Betty Lake begins on the west side. Both trails are part of the Eugene to Pacific Crest Trail, which commences at Skinner Butte in Eugene. The relatively flat Bobby Lake Trail heads off into a dry mountain hemlock forest with scattered western white pines. Little grouseberry bushes dot the forest floor. In some areas, there are significant colonies of lodegpole pine. Blue diamonds mark the way for winter recreationists. Lupine will be blooming in various patches along the way. Soon you’ll come to the crossing of the Gold Lake Trail #3677, first on the left and then on the right. The trail drops a little and then undulates slightly to cross a little draw before following another shallow draw and dipping into a rocky depression where a few wildflowers bloom. Then a post prematurely declares the ‘end’ of the Eugene to Pacific Crest Trail (the original route of the PCT came in here from the south and then headed east a little way on the Bobby Lake Trail before turning north). You’ll rise from here to the new junction with the Pacific Crest Trail. From the junction, the trail continues straight to thread through mountain hemlock forest to reach the west shore of Bobby Lake. The trail continues along the north shore of Bobby Lake as the Deschutes National Forest’s Moore Creek Trail. There are a few campsites set back from the shore. Day visitors should go right to a large rock slab which inclines into the water, an excellent spot from which to launch a frigid mountain dip.
Trail Stats
0.0 km
83 m
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Photos
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