From the trailhead in an old burn, the trail almost immediately drops down to nearly the shores of Spar Lake, where it picks up an old logging road and follows it to the northeastern-most corner of the lake (it would be easy to drop down to the lakeshore along this stretch). Then, the trail moves away from the road bed and in true singletrack fashion meanders through a shady cedar forest, all the while hugging the lakeshore. Views of the lake are filtered throughout and the trail stays a fair bit above the water level, with the hillside exceedingly steep.

The lake ends after about 2 miles (depending on the season), but the trail continues for another mile, crossing a few creeks and moving up Spar Creek through an incredibly nice old-growth cedar forest. The trail ends on FR-384 at the Little Spar Lake trailhead. All tributaries were dry in September, even lake-fed Spar Creek.

Spar Lake is quite interesting in that it does not appear to have an outlet.

Alternate Routes

• This makes for a great combination with the Little Spar Lake or Spar Peak hikes
• You could turn this into a loop by hiking out on FR-384