Tomyhoi Lake Trail 686

This trail is within Mt. Baker Wilderness. Gold Run Mining Company workers built this trail in the early 1900s. The trail begins with switchbacks taking you through an avalanche path thick with wildflowers in early summer, then enters timber and climbs until it breaks out to a flat bench in a meadow. The junction with Yellow Aster Butte Trail #686.1 is about 1.5 miles from the trailhead. Stay to the right at the junction and continue upward through the meadow to Gold Run Pass. The steep, pyramid shaped, reddish peak north of the pass is Mt. Larrabee. American and Canadian Border Peaks are also visible. From the pass, the trail quickly loses elevation, and a half mile below the pass reaches a meadow-covered bench known as Coyote Flats. The trail continues to the lake, which is a popular fishing spot. Camping is available near the lake. Avalanche debris and downed trees make the last half mile of the trail to the lakeshore and camps hard to follow.

Caution: The north side of Gold Run Pass is steep and exposed and can hold snow well into summer. Hikers will need an ice axe and experience traveling on snow to reach the lake before the snow melts.

Washington Trails Association Hiking Guide and Trip Reports