Garnet Canyon

The Garnet Canyon Trail begins at the Lupine Meadows Trailhead and starts out traversing south along the valley floor for about a mile before climbing west up a steep forested ridge to a junction with the Valley Trail at 1.7 miles.  It then continues 1.3 miles up five long switchbacks to a second junction with the Surprise-Amphitheater Lake Trail. Turn left at this junction and traverse south into Garnet Canyon where the maintained hiking trail ends abruptly at a large boulder filed 4.1 miles from the trailhead.

A climber's path continues through the boulders to The Meadows where a trail to the camping area and the South Fork beyond splits off to the left.  Continuing straight at The Meadows leads very steeply up numerous switchbacks towards the Petzoldt Caves and Moraine camping areas.  Beyond the Moraine lies a steep headwall that must be climbed utilizing a fixed rope for assistance to reach the Lower Saddle and the top of the North Fork of Garnet Canyon.  It is an arduous 7 mile "hike" from the Lupine Meadows Trailhead to this point.