Great info Rose! I second hitting up Bear Creek/High drive! That is what got me hooked locally! If you park at the bottom of high drive and hike up to trail 666 (I think it is about 1.5 miles) and then head up that trail until you get to the big scree fields you can find all kinds of Amazonite and Smokies just laying amongst the rocks! Just remember, you'll be rolling up to 8k+ feet, so take it slow!

Big Bobcat for sure, lynx will not have black spots, especialy on the underside. nice picture!

How far do you have to hike up Bear Creek to get to the Scree fields? Wondering if I can try it with my 8 year old. It looks like in the summer we can park at the trailhead if we drive around so we're going the "right" way on High Drive, so cut it a little shorter.

Thanks!

Elena

I believe High Dr is still closed, so you'd have to walk 1.5-ish miles just to get to the trail 666 trailhead. Then another 30 min or so to get up to 8k' where they are.

Yep just called the visitor center there and confirmed it's closed, too bad. We just got in from Seattle at sea level! I think at least for now the elevation is too high for us to want to hike that much, but maybe later in the week :)

Thanks for the ideas!