6.5 miles RT
Elevation gain: 250 feet
Warnings: Although an easy trail overall, a short but steep hill might have to be walked; Also, snowmobiles hit this trail early and heavily, so try this only if you are up early and there is enough fresh snow to enjoy the trail.
From the Sno-park, turn left onto Meadow Creek Road (what the Forest Service calls Route 3) for 150 yards until an intersection with Route 1C. Turn left and experience the thrill – or terror, if it is icy – of a twisting, screaming, albeit short ride down to the elevation of Fish Lake. From here, the trail loops counter-clockwise around the lake.
The ride throught the trees and then next to the lake is surprisingly beautiful. If it was on the East Coast they would have made a freaking national park out of this route. As it is, it is a marginal little trail in the Fish Lake ASS system. It is marginal because it gets a lot of early snowmobile traffic and, at a lower elevation, does not get a lot of snow cover and tends to get slushy and melt out early in the season. In addition, you pass through a fishing lodge site (which is closed in the winter).
You can circle the lake on the gentle ups and downs, mostly through forest but with views to your left across the lake. A good turnaround point is the Air Strip Sno-park (see the Flight Tower picture). Turn around and circle the lake in a clockwise direction. Or, cross a road and pick up the Chiwawa Loop (Route 5) to return to the car in about the same distance.
Looking back on tracks in new snow, with iced-over Fish Lake to the right.
The flight tower at the Lake Wenatchee airstrip. I am not making this up.