Gothic Basin
North Cascades
As of mid-November 2025, Gothic Basin presents a challenging but rewarding late-season destination. The trail features significant rock, mud, and stream crossings, with recent trail work including granite steps and a chain handrail. Parking was available as of November 11th, but can be busy.
The basin and route to Foggy Lake were snow-covered in early November, requiring spikes and poles. Caution is advised on potentially weak snow bridges. Reports from September noted the trail's steep, rocky sections and recommended good footing. Road access appears to be paved.
generated from 47 reports
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Sick hike, started hiking at 2 am for the sunrise, i think it helped with not being super tired on the way up.
Today we hiked the Gothic Basin trail to Foggy Lake. Plenty of parking when we left the trailhead at 8am.The trail was wet with flowing streams and muddy sections. This made for beautiful waterfalls a...
I’ve been wanting to do this trail for a while and I would say that in general, it did not disappoint. The views start to open up after a few miles but you don’t get up into the basin until the last h...
The hike here is every bit as formidable as the visuals on display. After the mild opening act, you will be tested with a tangle of roots, bare rock, mud, and loose rock at an imperious incline until ...
Showed up to the trailhead around noon on a Saturday. I had to park quite a way away off to the side of the road. Very busy. Road to the trailhead is all paved. The first half of the hike is through a...
I've been wanting to do Gothic Basin for a while but I usually only get weekends off. I was lucky to have a weekday off this week so my friend and I decided to venture out to this popular area for an ...
A friend and I camped in one of the dispersed campsites north of the trailhead on Saturday night, and made it to the trailhead around 9am. Lots of cars already there, but we found a spot and headed in...
Trailhead:Arrived at the trailhead around 7:45 the morning of Saturday 8/30 to begin an overnight backpacking trip. The trailhead itself is small and was full by the time we got there. We parked along...
Forgot to add photos to my last review
GETTING TO TRAILHEAD: easy paved road, bathroom at trailheadPARKING: very limited but people park down the side of the roads. Not super flat when you do this but fine. Got there at 8:30 am on Saturday...
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