About this place

The Upper Crawfish Lake Trailhead is a small trailhead that accesses the Crawfish Trail (#1606) from the upper slope and descending down to Crawfish Lake. Located off the Elkhorn Drive Scenic Byway, common activities at the site include day hiking up to the lake, horseback riding and fall hunting. Crawfish Lake Trail offers a short and moderately steep access to the northwest side of the Elkhorns Mountains and North Fork John Day Wilderness. The trail starts by descending down an old dirt road (closed to motorized use) for about the first half-mile. It then side slopes and contours around the hillside with great views of Crawfish Basin and Elkhorn Mountains. The last half-mile climbs through thick stands of young fir, spruce and lodgepole pine and crosses Crawfish Creek along the northwest edge of the North Fork John Day Wilderness to the lake. Crawfish Lake is situated at the base of the jagged northern peaks of the Elkhorn Mountains. Trail 1606 continues around the lake and descends gradually through the forest. After descending for a half-mile it then ascends steeply for a half-mile through a ghostly stand of trees burned in a 1986 fire and ends at the Crawfish Creek Trailhead.