Pinedale, WY – The New Fork Trail travels past the scenic New Fork Lakes before entering the steep granite walls of the New Fork Canyon. Following New Fork Trail, you can climb to two mountain passes at 10,680 feet and 10,920 feet near Lozier Lakes on your way to the Highline Trail at 16.5 miles. Along the way you pass Boulder Basin (Lowline) Trail at 2 miles, Palmer Canyon Trail at 8.2 miles, and Porcupine Trail at 9.3 miles, allowing for a wide range of extended backpacking loops. For selecting trails I used, “Falcon Guides: Hiking Wyoming’s Wind River Range” by Ben Adkison which includes both day hikes and backpacking options. We opted to day hike the beginning of the New Fork Trail.
The steep granite walls of the New Fork Canyon
From the trailhead, climb around the lake through aspen, pine, and willows. Cows are grazed in this area, we saw several. The trail climbs up several hundred feet to a ridge and crosses over where the terrain opens to expansive views of the New Fork Lakes and the New Fork Lake Canyon.
The trail climbs through aspen to cross a ridge
Looking toward Lower New Fork Lake
New Fork Trail and Upper New Fork Lake
The trail crosses a steep slope high above Upper New Fork Lake
The trail continues across a steep slope through sagebrush while gradually climbing down to the level of the lake at the far end, near its inlet. From here the trail continues to the canyon entrance and begins climbing. We saw one other group of hikers during our hike. We loved traversing the steep slope while enjoying the views from the trail.
Looking toward the inlet of Upper New Fork Lake
Looking toward New Fork Canyon from the trail
Climbing back up New Fork Trail’s sagebrush slope
To reach the New Fork Trail’s Trailhead, head 5.2 miles west of Pinedale on US 191 and then turn north onto paved Wyoming State Route 352, aka Green River Road. Follow WY 352 through the wide Green River Valley for 14.6 miles where you will turn right onto New Fork Lakes Road. Follow the wide gravel New Fork Lakes Road entering the Bridger National Forest at 2.7 miles. After another 3/4 miles, bear left (right goes to campground) and continue for about 2.5 miles where you will reach the trailhead parking area. The trailhead is signed.
We stayed at Highline Trail RV Park in Boulder when we hiked New Fork Trail. Other hikes we completed during this visit to the Wind River Range included:
