By EC Heileson
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A picturesque view of Palisades Peak (9778’) from the trail
a little before the bridge crossing at
Split Creek (Upper Palisades Lake is
below and to the right of this peak).
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HOW TO GET THERE
The trailhead to
Palisades Creek Trail is located just off Hwy 26 near the small town of Irwin,
Idaho, between Swan Valley to the northwest and the Palisades Reservoir to the
southeast.
If you are coming
from Idaho Falls or from Jackson using the Teton Pass (Hwy 31) into Swan
Valley, you will follow Hwy 26 southeast towards Palisades Reservoir for about
7 miles from the junction of Hwy 26 and Hwy 31 and then turn left onto
Palisades Creek Road (Forest Road 255).
If you are coming from Palisades Reservoir, you will travel northwest on
Hwy 26 for about 4 miles from the point of the dam and then turn right onto
Palisades Creek Road (FR 255).
After turning
onto Palisades Creek Road (FR 255), you can follow the road all the way to the
trailhead where there is single car parking and a public restroom (vaulted
toilet with no running water). However,
there is also a parking area and horse unloading area near the campground
located just below the trailhead. There
is also running water at the campground.
GENERAL
DESCRIPTION and CONSIDERATIONS
A U.S. Forest
Service Map of the Palisades and Teton Basin Ranger Districts can be found here
(Palisades Creek and the lakes are located on the map at E11-F11, with the
trail numbers being 084, 112, and 099):
http://www.fs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS/stelprdb5175992.pdf
The hike to both
Lower and Upper Palisades Lakes is moderately difficult while the hike from the
upper lake to the falls at Waterfall Canyon is a bit more difficult (for the
first half anyway). The elevation at the
trailhead is around 5600 feet. The
Palisades Creek outlet at the lower lake has an approximate elevation of 6250
feet and the elevation at the top of the hill overlooking the upper lake is
around 6700 feet. The falls at Waterfall
Canyon are at an elevation of about 7550 feet.
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Investigating a “beaver” pond to the right of the
trail.
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It is
approximately 4 miles from the trailhead to the lower lake and about 2.7 miles
further to the upper lake. Once you
reach the upper lake, a trail follows along the left-hand side of the lake for
about 1.5 miles to the southeast end of the lake or you can hike down to the
lake on the right. To reach the falls at
Waterfall Canyon, you must hike the 1.5 miles to the southeast end of the upper
lake and then about 3 more miles beyond that point.
Due to the
popularity of the area, you are likely to encounter many other hikers,
fishermen, individuals on horseback, or campers. Youth groups frequent the area during the
summer. Weekends and the months of July
and August are the most crowded. The
trail is usually littered with horse manure which can be a bit of a nuisance.
Lingering snow and fallen timber can
sometimes make hiking difficult or impractical far into June, especially past
the upper lake. Both heat and cold are
potential hazards, so be sure and check the weather forecast and be prepared
for inclement weather as needed.
A large number of
people just hike to the lower or upper lake for a day hike, perhaps fishing
along the way or in one of the lakes.
Others hike to one of the lakes and camp for the night before continuing
on to the upper lake and/or up Waterfall Canyon the next day. Upper Palisades Lake is several times larger
than Lower Palisades Lake and the water can be extremely cold, even in
mid-summer, so extra caution should be taken if entering the lake for any
reason.
You are likely to
encounter quite a bit of wildlife on this hike.
The most common small game encountered are squirrels, chipmunks, garter
snakes, frogs, toads, foxes, beaver, pika (in rocky areas), ducks, and
occasionally coyotes. Big game include
moose (very common), deer, elk, mountain goats, and rarely mountain lions and
black bears.
Fishing is good
in many areas of the creek and is possible in both lakes, though the upper lake
is much more accessible and should provide far better fishing than the lower
lake. Artificial flies, lures
(spinners), and worms are the most popular bait. The water is very clear with willows and
brush being the greatest obstacles to accessing the creek in most areas along
the trail. There are six (6) well-built
bridges crossing the creek between the trailhead and the lower lake and another
one crossing the creek between the lower and upper lake.
Mosquitos, horse
flies, and other flying insects can be a nuisance but not as much during the
middle of summer if it has been dry.
Stinging nettle is located along the trail in many places but if you
stay on the middle of the trail it should not cause you too many problems. Wild raspberries, thimbleberries, and blue
huckleberries grow in many different places along the trail (mostly above the
lower lake and up toward Waterfall Canyon) and are usually ripe for picking
during the late summer months. Much of
the trail can be fairly dusty if it has been dry which can leave your
shoes/boots, feet, and legs pretty dirty at the end of the day. You will almost always be near a water source
except for most of the trail up to the falls in Waterfall Canyon.
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The first bridge crossing
Palisades Creek
can be seen from the trailhead parking lot.
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OUR HIKE UP
PALISADES CREEK
Though I have
hiked and fished Palisades Creek and the upper lake a few times, this was the
first time my wife and I had hiked this trail together. We began our hike up Palisades Creek Trail on
August 2nd at approximately 9:00 AM.
Though it was a Thursday, the parking lot at the trailhead was fairly
full. The weather was sunny the entire
time with very few clouds, though there was a little haze in the sky from
wildfires burning in the region. An
on-and-off breeze arose during the day and highs were expected to reach the
mid-80s in Irwin.
A bridge
immediately crosses Palisades Creek at the trailhead leaving the parking lot
and the area is quite forested and shaded until you reach the second bridge
crossing. The creek has some access
points for fishing but also has a lot of willows but we did not bring any
fishing gear. In this section, the trail
sometimes diverges away from the creek further to the right. The mountains and canyon walls rise quite
high on both sides providing some great scenery.
After about a
half-hour of hiking (stopping occasionally to enjoy the view or to take
pictures) we came upon a floating-type bridge that left the trail to the right
to what looked like a man-made levy and a beaver pond (though I’m not sure the
dam was built by beavers). The trail
continued to the left to the second bridge crossing to the left side of the
creek.
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My wife sitting on the
second bridge crossing the creek.
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Once you cross
the second bridge to the left side of the creek, the trail provides
intermittent periods of shade and sun.
The trail also rises high above and away from the creek along the left
side of the canyon at times. There are a
couple places to stop and rest along the trail in the shade and some rocks to
sit down on if needed. We were moving at
a good pace though and we didn’t take any time to stop and rest.
The distance
between the second and third bridge provides the longest interval between any
of the bridges up to the lower lake (it took us about an hour and a half to
reach the third bridge from the trailhead).
There are some spectacular views of the opposite canyon wall, mountain
peaks, and the creek itself along this portion of the trail. A favorite stopping point for hikers is a
flat rock overlook (or as we call it, Bernie’s Lookout). It is just a few minutes away from the third
bridge crossing and provides a great view of the creek below and some steep
rocky cliffs on the other side of the creek.
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Standing atop
Bernie’s Lookout, a favorite stopping point for hikers along the trail.
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The third,
fourth, and fifth bridge crossings are just a few minutes away from each other
and the trail stays pretty close to the creek for the most part during this
section. There is a small bridge lying
over a stream-bed (it usually contains water earlier in the year) between the
fourth and fifth bridges as well. There
are some great views of the creek and the canyon walls and there appear to be
quite a few good fishing holes along this part of the creek if you can find a
way to access them.
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| Looking upstream from the fifth bridge. |
The fifth bridge
crossing takes you to the right side of the creek and soon after this the trail
ascends upward toward the lower lake.
There are a few switchbacks here and it is a little more strenuous. Rock mounds clutter the area as evidence of
the rock slide that formed the dam making the lower lake.
Before reaching
the lower lake, the trail will come to the top of a hill with a camping area to
the right. Here you will also find signs
showing distances to the upper lake and other areas. We veered off the trail and rested and ate in
a large outcropping of boulders overlooking the lower lake. While eating and enjoying the view, a pika
crawled out onto the rocks and began squeaking (perhaps to let us know we were
intruding on its turf).
The lower lake
looked as scenic as ever. We spent
probably a half an hour resting here and taking in the sights. A few other groups had stopped in the area
and it was evident that some of them had reached their destination and would be
returning to the trailhead instead of heading onward. We had passed a few people traveling up or
down the trail but we had mostly had the trail to ourselves thus far.
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View of Lower Palisades Lake from an outcropping of
boulders.
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The sixth bridge
crosses the creek immediately where the creek exits Lower Palisades Lake. The trail follows the left side of the lake
to the opposite end. The area just above
the lower lake is very green, with lots of willows and grassy meadows along the
creek. This part of the trail is pretty
exposed to the sun, so it can get hot, but it is also prime habitat for
moose. I can’t remember ever not seeing a
moose when hiking this trail and today was no different. Within a few minutes after passing the lower
lake, we encountered a couple people on horseback. Just before they passed us we all noticed a
large bull moose standing in a watery meadow below us to the right. It was taking its time eating and drinking
and it did not mind us or the horses, so we spent some time watching the moose
and taking some pictures.
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| A large bull moose seen from the trail. |
Within 10 to 15
minutes of seeing the moose, we had reached an area called Chicken
Springs. Just before Chicken Springs,
the trail forks left up the hill and dead ends next to a spring and to the
right across a stream via a makeshift log bridge. Here the trail enters an open clearing. The stream to the left gushes out of the
hillside and has been popular place for hikers to refill their water
containers. We filled our water bottles
and canteen using a Katadyn Hiker water filtration pump and added some water
purification drops as an extra precaution.
We had to navigate some fallen timber to get up close to the stream at
the point where it pours out of the mountainside.
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| A moose and her calf walking along hillside above the springs. |
As we moved on to
Chicken Springs (which are larger than the springs where we stopped), we ran
into part of a Scout troop from Pocatello.
They were busy watching something and we soon found out that a cow moose
and her calf were walking along the hillside above the springs. We kept our distance, of course. They took a few looks at us before eventually
wandering off into the woods.
A group that hiked to Upper Palisades the day after us saw a bear on the trail between the lower and upper lakes. It stopped and watched them for awhile and then wandered off into the woods. This is the first time I have heard of an encounter with a bear on this hike but it proves that it is possible to see bears up there.
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| "Closed" cabin at Chicken Springs. |
To the right of
Chicken Springs is a small locked-up cabin with as sign reading, “Closed to
Camping.” I have often wondered what its
purpose is but have never found out.
There are mileage signs posted along the trail here (the sign says 1.2
miles to Upper Palisades Lake) and there are some dilapidated wooden bridges to
the right but the trail does not follow them.
There is also an old outhouse on the left side of the hill to the left
of the trail just past the cabin.
However, it doesn’t look usable.
After Chicken
Springs, the trail slowly moves far above and to the left of the creek so that
the creek is no longer visible but we could still hear it. The views of the canyon and mountains from
here are impressive. Sun and shade was
intermittent here and with it being early afternoon, we both felt this was the
hottest part of the hike. However, it
wasn’t too long before we came to the bridge crossing Palisades Creek to the
right and into more forested terrain.
Palisades Creek Trail continues to follow Palisades Creek up the canyon
to the left of the bridge crossing.
Another creek flowing out of Upper Palisades Lake (known to us as Split
Creek) meets up with Palisades Creek just below the bridge, and the main trail
follows this creek up the hillside toward the upper lake after crossing the
bridge.
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| Spectacular view of Upper Palisades Lake. |
The hike is a
little more difficult as it climbs from here to the upper lake, with several
switchbacks along the way. It took us
close to half an hour to hike from the bridge to the top of the hill
overlooking Upper Palisades Lake. The
view of the lake from here is amazing.
The water in the upper lake is crystal clear. Lighter-colored sediments on the lake bottom
close to the shoreline make a nice border around the turquoise blue that makes
up the rest of the lake. The island in
the lake is affectionately known to us as Anniversary Island. At this point, you can follow a trail down to
the lake shore to the right, or continue along a trail on the left side of the
lake for about 1.5 miles which will take you to the southeast end where another
creek empties into the lake.
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| Soaking feet in cold water of Upper Palisades Lake. |
Rather than
stopping, we continued up the trail along the left-hand side of the lake, which
was exposed to the sun for almost the entire way and was generally high above
the lake. Not too long down the trail,
we came upon a blue rope swing tied to a tree hanging high above the lake. I’m not sure who tied the rope to the tree or
how they did it. You have to walk down a
steep incline to reach the rope hanging near the shore.
It took us nearly
an hour (with a couple brief stops) to reach the southeast end of the lake,
which might give you some idea of how long the lake is. Once we reached the southeast end of the
lake, we found a sign that stated Waterfall Canyon was another 0.2 miles. This is misleading and what we think it meant
was that the trail leading to Waterfall Canyon was 0.2 miles ahead. We did find another sign about 0.2 miles
further up the trail that said Waterfall Canyon was 1.5 miles. This is not the distance to the falls in
Waterfall Canyon but to the canyon itself.
There is a log bridge with a rope that crosses the creek to the right
soon after this sign and another sign with an arrow pointing to Waterfall
Canyon.
A log and rope
bridge crosses the creek above Upper Palisades Lake on the trail leading to
Waterfall Canyon (an arrow on the tree at the right of the bridge points the
way to Waterfall Canyon).
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| A log and rope bridge crosses the creek. |
The actual falls
are more than 3 miles from the southeast end of the lake. Not knowing this, we ventured on up the trail
to find the falls until we ran into a group who were returning from the falls
who told us we still had nearly 2 miles to go after hiking about 1.5 miles
already. They also said the falls
weren’t that big (they are quite beautiful in late June I have heard). Though the trail levels off at this point and
is much easier to follow, we decided to turn back. The hike to Waterfall Canyon from the upper
lake is much more challenging, and I would not recommend that anyone try to
reach the falls in one day from the trailhead.
On the way back
to the lake we found several blue huckleberry bushes and we stopped to pick and
eat huckleberries along the way. We also
picked and ate thimbleberries, which look almost like a raspberry. But there are also wild raspberries along the
trail in several places, especially on the trail up to and along the upper
lake. We stopped at the upper lake to
dip our feet in the cold water and ate again before making the decent to the
trailhead.
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| Thimbleberries |
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| Huckleberries |
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| Raspberries |
Our entire hike
took us about 12 hours up and back. We
were pretty exhausted and our feet were sore.
If we could do it over again, we would have stopped at the northwest end
of the lake and enjoyed ourselves rather than hiking on. Next time we return, we would like to spend
some time fishing in the upper lake and/or spend a night camping at the lower
lake before hiking to the upper lake the next day. Hopefully our experience will help others
decide if this is a hike they would like to try. It still is one of my favorite places to hike
and my wife found it very much worth the trip.
INDIANAPOLIS – September and the cooler temperatures
of fall are nearly here, and homeowners nationwide will soon begin
enjoying the warmth and beauty provided by their homes’ fireplaces.
