Enjoy Hard Work:

Frog Pond Trail, Red Buttes Wilderness

Photo courtesy Jason Reilly.

Wilderness Volunteers were busy last June clearing this steep, rugged trail just south of Applegate Lake. They crosscut over 38 logs and cleared about three-miles of brush. Go check out the Frog Pond Trail for yourself.

From Seattle Bar at the inlet of Applegate Lake head south and after less than one-mile, make a hairpin right turn onto Forest Service Road 1040 and continue heading south on 1040. About five-miles from Seattle Bar, turn left to stay on 1040 and follow it about another six-miles to the Frog Pond Trailhead, which is easily missed.

The Frog Pond Trail ascends steeply through a number of switchbacks. As you reach higher, the soil becomes rockier and the scenery more unique. At about three-miles you’ll reach Frog Pond at the center of a large basin. If you need water, follow the outlet of the lake to a small spring not far off the trail.

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Along the short trail you will come across a number of conifers: Douglas Fir, ponderosa pine, sugar pine, grand fir, mountain hemlock, pacific yew, incense cedar, and the elusive brewer’s spruce with long, lacy branches that droop, or weep.

This trail connects with Cameron Meadows to form a six-mile horse-shoe shaped route that connects with the road to make a loop.