Most hikers choose to reach Santiam Lake via the Duffy Lake Trail. The route described here is about 0.8 miles longer, and more than half the route is through a burn area, but you will encounter fewer hikers than on the Duffy Lake “freeway”, and there is plenty of scenery to enjoy.

The trail starts at the east end of the parking lot. After filling out a free self-issued wilderness permit, you will hike a few hundred feet and turn left (north) onto the PCT. After 0.2 miles, you will reach the junction with the Summit Lake Trail #4014 on the right. You will stay straight. In another 0.1 miles, you will pass the wilderness boundary, marked by a sign on a post.

You are hiking through forest burned in the massive 2003 B&B Complex Fire, which burned more than 90,000 acres (including 40,000 acres in the Mt. Jefferson Wilderness). Pines, manzanita, beargrass, and other vegetation are growing back in abundance. As you hike this first section, be sure to look over your left shoulder for a view of Mount Washington, part of the Three Sisters, flat-topped Hayrick Butte, and Hoodoo Butte.