Southfork Mountain and Barnaby Ridge

Route Description for Southfork Mountain and Barnaby Ridge

You will start the scramble to Southfork Mountain by crossing the river, which can be quite shallow and easy to cross once the early-season runoff is done. You will find the signed trail on the other side. Trail markers, in fact, start even before the river crossing and an excellent trail has been cut through the krumholtz between the Southfork Lakes.

The trail across the river begins quite gently, but soon steepens dramatically, gaining 450 m over just 1.5 km. Most of this ascent is on open hillside, and can be very hot if starting in the afternoon. The ascent relaxes near the lower of the three Southfork Lakes! A few very nice informal campsites are located on the edge of the lake and can make a nice base camp for exploring.

Contour around the lower Southfork Lake on good trail before a moderately steep ascent, still on good trail, and you will come to the second Southfork Lake. At this point turn west and start the steep, off-trail ascent to the summit of Southfork Mountain over mixed, easy terrain. At times you walk through a beautiful larch forest, eventually reaching the summit just 40 minutes after departing Southfork Lakes.

After this 1,000 m ascent to Southfork Mountain, take a break and enjoy the views then head south along the very broad and pleasantly hike-able Barnaby Ridge.

The midway point between Southfork and Barnaby, nicknamed The Amoeba, looks quite daunting from a distance. However, as you approach the cliffs on its north-end, multiple easy scramble routes reveal themselves with a trail indicating the most popular option. Follow this trail around The Amoeba without gaining too much elevation.

On the south side of The Amoeba you lose over 100 m, gain a bit of it back before losing it again, then head up the final 175 m to the summit of Barnaby Ridge. The views from Barnaby Ridge are amazing, dozens of peaks to scramble are visible in all directions!

Return the way you came.