Name: Veda Lake Trail #673
Rating: 3.5

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Features Fall Colors · Lake · Swimming · Views

Family Friendly If your family car has high clearance, this is a good option for older kids. It is about 3.5 miles roundtrip with some elevation, but the lake makes for a good destination for a picnic.

The trailhead is snowed in usually from late November to late May or early June. The access road to the trailhead is restricted to high clearance vehicles only.

Description

The hardest part about the journey to Veda Lake is the road getting there. The Sherar Burn Road aka Kinzel Lake Road and Forest Road 2613 is labeled as a primitive road. It was probably 20 years ago, we cracked our oil pan taking our mini-van of kids up there. So take a higher clearance vehicle, take it slow, and pick your way around the larger rocks in the road. Once at the trailhead, which also serves the Dry Fir Trail #674A, cross the road and pick up the Veda Lake Trail.

The trail begins climbing to the Veda Butte for the first 3/4 mile. At that point, the trail then starts dropping into a series of switchbacks to the lake. Where the trail passes through rocky openings, there are good photo opportunities of Mt. Hood with Veda Lake in the foreground.

There are a few campsites in the vicinity of the campground. The lake itself stays surprisingly cold through summer and supports a population of crawdads (crawfish).

Once you've enjoyed your time at the lake, return the way that you came to return to the trailhead and your vehicle.

Flora & Fauna

The forest is made up of Douglas fir, western hemlock, western red cedar, lodgepole and western white pine as well as hardwoods including alder, big leaf and vine maple. The ground cover consists of oxalis, sword fern, Oregon grape, salal, huckleberry, bear grass and rhododendron.