The High Lakes Trail is a great "green" trail on its own, or can be ridden as part of the more difficult Brown Mountain Loop. The trail is wide, smooth, and surfaced with a fine crushed rock, making it suitable for novice mountain bike riders, and families with kids.
Easily ridden in either direction or as an out-and-back, here is a description from the western trailhead:
From the Fish Lake Resort access road, The High Lakes Trail ascends gradually for a mile, then descends slightly and passes the Brown Mountain Trail coming in from the right. More gentle climbing resumes for another couple miles until the high point is reached. Along the way the trail has been painstakingly engineered through some impressive boulder fields of the Brown Mountain lava flows.
After a mile of gradual descent and another mile of flat cruising through old growth timber, there is a junction where the Brown Mountain Trail turns off to the south at a crossing of forest road #3640.
Continuing with little elevation change, the High Lakes Trail skirts the north end of Lake of the Woods and ends at a picnic/swimming area on the NE corner of the lake.
Camping, cabins, boat rentals, and cafe (think beer) are available at Fish Lake Resort, at the western end of the trail. A similar, but larger scale operation is located just south of the eastern terminus of the trail, at Lake of the Woods Resort.
It's a nice and smooth trail. The trail is mostly just dirt, but once you get over the first short climb it gets more exciting with a fun downhill section the rest of the way to Lake of The Woods. The scenery is fantastic.
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