The Windy Lakes area offers fun and exciting terrain for all levels of mountain bikers. It is an area of uncompromising beauty embracing many pristine mountain lakes and large expanses of untouched forest. A unique aspect of this ride is the gentle gradient of the trail. Most single track trails that lead to mountain lakes are both technically and physically demanding. This one is not.
Follow Highway 58 over Willamette Pass. Turn right at Crescent Lake Junction approximately 8 miles east of the Pass, and follow signs to Crescent Lake. Take the road on the northwest side of Crescent Lake. The turn to Summit Lake from Crescent Lake is easy to miss. It is a right turn that heads west and lies between Tandy Bay and Spring Campgrounds on Crescent Lake.
The trailhead to Windy Lakes is the Summit Lake trail on the northeast side of Summit Lake about 5 miles from the Crescent Lake road junction. The trail follows the east side of the Lake. At 3 miles, the trail meets the Meek Lake Trail. If you'd prefer a shorter loop, this 2.2 mile trail returns you to the road, via Meek Lake, 1.4 miles east of the car at the Summit Lake trailhead. Beyond the Meek Lake trail junction, the trail continues for another 2 miles to Windy Lakes. At 1.5 miles east of North Windy Lakes is Suzanne Lake and a short distance farther is Darlene Lake. All the lakes provide for great swimming, however Suzanne is especially nice as it has a multi level cliff that makes for some fun jumping.
Once at North Windy Lake there are a couple options for your return. One is to descend the way you came. Another is to descend the Windy Creeks Trail 4 miles back to Crescent Lake. This is fun technical descent with many diagonal drainage bars across the trail. Return to the Summit Lake trail head via Summit Lake Road.
Keith Nelson
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