Hiking the Barnes Lake Trails in Barnhartvale
The Barnes Lake Trails are horse-and-hiker routes in Barnhartvale. Mountain bikes are not allowed, and so the trails are less well-known. We did see a couple of horse riders and two dog-walkers, but we hiked 9.8 km and mostly had the trails to ourselves. We started at the Gardiner Road trailhead and did a clockwise loop around the outer trails. The first part of the area is through grasslands, then we pass through an area of ponderosa pine snags. As the trails climb on the south side, we hiked through open open pine forests to glaciated terrain through a douglas fir forest. . On the east side are some ponds below the Robbins Range Road. We followed trails bearing south, then west, then descended down to the grasslands, going around Kildeer Pond. To close the loop we continued our descent through the grassy slopes down to Barnhartvale Road. These are excellent trails to hike. Click this link for more information – Barnes Lake Trails.