Panhandle Lake

Drainage: Stillwater
Approaches: Goose Lake Jeep Trail — 1.2 mi one way; 280 ft up. Path to Wall Lake, then cross-country

Elevation: 9,570 feet
Fish: No FWP data
Coordinates: 45.09919, -109.93946
Bugs: Minimal on our visit

Getting there

Getting to the start is half the trip. The Goose Lake Jeep Trail needs an ATV, an off-road buggy or a genuinely capable off-road vehicle. Nothing standard will make it.

Your driving ends at the turnaround near the Goose Creek waterfall, where you park and shoulder packs. Just before the trail ends near the falls, look for a hard right that points you north. That is where the walking starts.

Check your undercarriage before you leave the machine, and again when you come back. Pine marten are active in this basin and they chew wires and cables under parked vehicles. This is your ride home.

The hike

1.2 miles out with 280 feet of climbing. This is the closest lake to the turnaround after Wall and the shortest walk in the basin.

Start on the short, well defined path running north past Wall Lake. Once you leave the Wall shoreline the maintained path ends completely. Everything from there is cross country through timber and rock, but the distance is short and the ground is straightforward.

Panhandle is 3.5 acres at 9,570 feet. FWP has no data for it, which means no stocking record rather than a confirmed empty lake. We fished it and did not catch anything.

Star Dust is another six tenths of a mile northwest, and Anvil about a mile beyond that.

Tips & safety

• Wall Lake is where the path stops. If you want a walk with no route finding at all, Wall is the turnaround. Panhandle is the first lake past it and the cheapest introduction to the cross country in this basin.

• Weather: high country with nothing to break a front. Come prepared for sustained cold rain rather than a passing shower.

• Vehicle care: check your lines and undercarriage before leaving the machine at the waterfall, and again before you drive out.

• Fishing: no FWP record for this lake. We caught nothing.

• Camping: Panhandle sits at 9,570 feet in timber below the open bench, so there is wind shelter. At 3.5 acres the shoreline is short. Anvil, about a mile and a half north, is 13 acres and the better base for the basin.