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UINTAS — The hike to beautiful Marjorie Lake includes a network of lakes and trails all within a mile or two of each other that all start from one trailhead next to Washington Lake.
The Lakes Country Trail is located at an elevation of 9,680 feet. The trailhead can be located from the parking lot near Washington Lake and its campground facility. The rolling, rocky, easy hiking trails lead to lakes such as Crystal, Cliff, Marjorie, Weir, Long, Divide and others.
The trail makes for perfect day-hike treks with the entire family. However, because these are close to other popular lakes and campgrounds, the best time to explore this piece of backcountry is during the middle of the week.
Rocky underfoot, these easy hiking distances almost guarantee complete solitude. It's not uncommon to have a ridgetop view or a lake all to yourself during the middle of the week. However, it is not just the beautiful scenery and undisturbed quiet that draw the hiking enthusiast; these lakes sit above 10,000 feet in elevation and typically that means 30 degrees cooler than the temperature in the city.
This trail network runs along Mount Watson in the Weber River Drainage system. These remote lakes offer great overnight camping locations too. Within 3 miles of the parking lot, large expanses of meadows open up to lakes offering terrific get-back-to-nature time. However, be aware that black bears also enjoy this country. If you are camping, remember to keep all of your food up off of the ground and hang it high in trees away from sleeping areas.
Marjorie Lake also offers a great way to try your hand at catching some of the most colorful and unique cold water sport fish: brook trout and arctic grayling. Both of these fish are stocked periodically from the air by the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources. An overnight stay at one of these lakes scheduled for stocking may mean a chance to see this amazing effort in action.
