Escape Crowds At A Gem Of A Lake -- Resort's Demise Means Fewer Visitors To Beautiful Packwood Lake

PACKWOOD - Thirty years ago, when updating its recreation maps, the Forest Service chose Packwood Lake for the photo epitomizing the backcountry beauty of the Gifford Pinchot National Forest.

It was a good choice then, as it is today.

With Johnson Peak looming overhead, the big lake on the edge of Goat Rocks Wilderness is a calendar-cover scene and has been described as "one of the most beautiful lakes anywhere."

And while it's several hours south of Seattle, Packwood Lake is a trip worth making if you've yet to explore the region south of Mount Rainier. Check on snow levels before you go.

The lake isn't entirely natural. In 1964, the Washington Public Power Supply System built a dam across the outlet of Packwood Lake that diverts most of the flow of Lake Creek into a four-mile pipeline down to a power plant near Packwood.

Jack Thorne of the Gifford Pinchot's Cowlitz Valley District said the dam raised the lake level about 10 feet. Only a foot of fluctuation is allowed in the water level from May 1 through Sept. 15. After that, a winter draw-down up to eight feet is allowed.

The power plant produces up to 29 megawatts of electricity, enough to power about 8,000 homes.

There are two ways to reach the 452-acre jewel, five miles east of the community of Packwood in eastern Lewis County. Both begin at the end of Gifford Pinchot road No. 1260.

Hikers mostly use Packwood Lake trail No. 78, which leads 4.6 miles to the lake. The trail climbs a bit, then drops to the lake.

Cyclists, motorcylists and all-terrain vehicle users are allowed access to the lake via the pipeline trail, an almost flat route.

Resort is history

In the late 1930s, a resort was established at Packwood Lake. There was a store, cabins, horse and boat rentals, Thorne said.

By the late 1980s, the resort had fallen into disrepair, and in violation of state, federal and local building codes, Thorne said. Efforts to get the violations repaired failed. When the resort's operating permit expired in the early 1990s it was not extended.

The resort building has been removed, and fewer people use Packwood Lake, he said.

"With the removal of the rental boats went a fair amount of impact," Thorne said. "There's less trash and debris; we think it's a positive but there are some people who want to see boats and a store there."

Packwood Lake is very uncommon in that it's virtually in a wilderness area, yet accessible by motorized vehicles.

An area at the lower end of the lake has been closed to allow the soil to rehabilitate. Most of the camping sites at the upper end of the lake are inside the boundaries of the Goat Rocks Wilderness, but out of compliance with wilderness regulations, Thorne said.

Wilderness rules require camping spots be at least 100 feet away from water.

Hikers most common

Most, but not all, visitors to Packwood Lake are hikers.

"We get some horsemen on day rides, groups with pack stock going in overnight, people dragging canoe carriers, float tubes," he said. "Some people with quads have taken in kegs for parties."

Packwood Lake has a native, self-sustaining population of rainbow trout. A study of the Packwood Lake's rainbow trout in 1982 found the fish to be genetically unique, and more akin to inland trout populations than those from the coast, said John Weinheimer of the state Department of Fish and Wildlife.

To protect the trout from overharvest, there's a 10-inch minimum-size limit. Only artificial lures or flies with barbless single-point hooks are allowed. And fishing with bait is prohibited.

Ev Stauffer of Packwood has overseen the dam and power plant the past 10 years for Energy Northwest, the new name for the Washington Public Power Supply System.

Stauffer visits the equipment building at the lake at least once a week.

With the elimination of boat rentals at Packwood Lake, visitor use has plummeted, Stauffer said.

"On a sunny weekend you used to see 100 people through there; now you'll see maybe 30," he said.

Packwood Lake gets up to 60 inches of snow some winters, and as few as four inches on others.

Stauffer said he's had tough days where he had to pack the snow on the pipeline trail with snowshoes just to get a snowmobile up to the lake.

But Stauffer's description of Packwood Lake matches that of just about anyone who's ever visited: "It's a gorgeous place."