The Dogwood Marshes area is not a formal or organized snowshoeing area.   We use the parking area established originally for the Bush Lake Trails (across the road), but we enter the area through a gate in the grazing fence and drop down to the open area of the (red ossier dogwood) marshes below.   There are no signed trailheads nor any trail signs throughout the area, but there are routes that snowshoers know and we usually just follow tracks through the forest.   When we enter the area early in the season there are not many tracks so we end up following some remembered routes combined with some exploratory routes.   On the first day in the area in December we spend much of the time in the lower south end of the marshes, looping back through the forest.

It was cloudy down in the valleys but sunny at 4000 feet.   Hoar frost coated the trees everywhere.

With only about 10 inches of snow (25 cm), the reeds in the marshes were covered in snow to form clumps.

Along the way we stopped to inspect the hoar frost on branches close-up.

We encounter these conditions only a few times each winter so we take the time to stop to appreciate the festive decorations on the trees, shrubs, and grasses of the Dogwood Marshes.

We followed wildlife tracks across the frozen marshes and ponds under the winter sun.

We don’t worry about which route we take, how long it is, nor finding all the highlights of the area.   We enjoyed the snow, the sun, and the trees and we will be back many times to find new routes.