Green Lake/Soda Creek Gear Checklist

What shapes your gear on Green Lakes

Permit window and cost

The Forest Service requires a day-use Central Cascades Wilderness Permit at 19 of 79 trailheads from June 15 to October 15. Day-use permits cost $1 per person for each outing and are released in two windows, 10 days and 2 days before the trip. Recreation.gov lists this trailhead as the access point for the Green Lakes and Soda Creek trails.

From USDA Forest Service, Willamette National Forest and Recreation.gov

Road and snow dates

Recreation.gov warns that some trailheads, including ones on the Cascade Lakes Highway, may not be reachable by vehicle until mid or late June, and that trails often hold snow into late June. A 2015 magazine piece says the snow is gone by late June in most years, while a 2001 newspaper hiker met intermittent snow patches on Soda Creek in late June.

From Recreation.gov, 1859 Oregon's Magazine and The Bulletin: Take a sip of nature at Soda Creek

Two trails, one lot

The Soda Creek Trail leaves from the east side of the parking lot. A 2010 hiker found the lot full and the Soda Creek Trail nearly empty, because everyone else was headed to Green Lakes. A 2001 columnist says tens of thousands of boots pound the Green Lakes trail each season.

From The Bulletin: A refreshing getaway and The Bulletin: Take a sip of nature at Soda Creek

How long the loop is

A conservation executive quoted in 1859 Oregon's Magazine runs the Green Lakes and Soda Creek loop, about twelve miles and 2,000 vertical feet, in roughly two hours. He also says it works as a three-day family backpack. The 2010 Soda Creek out-and-back covered about four and a half miles round trip to a boulder-strewn creek.

From 1859 Oregon's Magazine and The Bulletin: A refreshing getaway

Fords and meadows

Soda Creek is crossed more than once. The 2010 hikers took off their shoes and socks for the first ford and dried their feet in a meadow. The 2001 columnist reached a second ford about ten minutes later and wrote that wet feet are part of the deal.

From The Bulletin: A refreshing getaway and The Bulletin: Take a sip of nature at Soda Creek

What hikers carry on Green Lakes

• Your own water, or a filter or purifier

  The 2015 magazine article tells hikers to bring water or a purifier. A 2014 Broken Top loop hiker liked that a stream running into North Green Lake spared them from filtering lake water, and used a filter again at Park Creek farther along.

  From 1859 Oregon's Magazine and Oregon Hikers forum

• Mosquito repellent for early summer

  The magazine names repellent for the early season. The 2014 hiker stopped at the North Green Lake stream and joked about mosquito records there, and they skipped camping at Park Meadow because of how hungry the mosquitoes were there.

  From 1859 Oregon's Magazine and Oregon Hikers forum

• Shoes you can take off at Soda Creek

  Two Bend Bulletin writers, nine years apart, both forded Soda Creek on foot. One described icy water at calf height and a dry-off on a meadow. The other said to cross carefully and accept wet feet.

  From The Bulletin: A refreshing getaway and The Bulletin: Take a sip of nature at Soda Creek

• A map or offline track for the junctions

  Recreation.gov tells hikers to carry a detailed map. The 2014 hikers missed the small side trail to Golden Lake entirely and met two other hikers who had done the same.

  From Recreation.gov and Oregon Hikers forum

• Lunch, and binoculars if you like them

  The 2010 Soda Creek hikers wished they had packed sandwiches for the sunny boulders at their turnaround. The magazine suggests lunch by the lakes and binoculars for spotting climbers on South Sister.

  From The Bulletin: A refreshing getaway and 1859 Oregon's Magazine

Gear questions for Green Lakes