Saturday morning was packed with errands and cleaning, but I was determined to head outdoors at some point. Dunder and I left our apartment around noon and headed for Brainard Lake Recreation Area. We got there about 1:30pm and waited in a line of cars for about 30 minutes, before getting to the gate and paying the park fees.

There was plenty of parking on the side of the road before the gate but that would have added an extra 5 miles to the 9 mile hike we were planning on going on. So we waited.

We parked at Brainard Lake day use lot and started following the sidewalk to Brainard Lake. We followed alongside Brainard on a paved road. At the end of the lake, there was a sign that said Long Lake Trailhead and we hopped on that one. The trail wove in and out of roads for about .5 miles. Finally, we got to the Long Lake parking lot and the official beginning of the Trailhead. (From our car to this new trail was probably about 1 mile) It’s relatively flat and wooded, bring your bug spray! There are many pockets and small trails that lead you to Long Lake.

We got to a fork in the trail with a sign for Isabelle Glacier and followed that. After about 2.5 miles in total, we started to see some clearing. A few creek crossings, stepping over small boulders, one short snow field and we were at Lake Isabelle. The views were stunning! I sat there and took in the views while Dunder splashed around in the water trying to find sticks.

We used the information from AllTrails to get there. The app has this lake listed as an 8.9 mile hike but we finished it just under 7 with only 650ft of elevation gain. We didn’t head up to the glacier so I’m wondering if that was where the extra distance came in. Either way, this was one of the first trails that under estimated the distance and I was not mad about it!

All in all, I would consider this hike easy. Plan ahead for extra traffic at the gate. If you don’t have a national park pass, the day fee is $12. Bring sunscreen, bug spray and swimsuit to cool off in Brainard Lake after the hike. Enjoy!