Mathieu Lakes Trail or Marion Lake- First time for wife

[douwei]

Hi,
Taking my wife next week for 2 nights, where would you go to take my wife for the first time? Mathieu Lakes Trail or Marion Lakes trail?

Less people the better....

[retired jerry]

2 miles to North Mathieu. Quite busy. Designated sites only. You may not find a site weekends.

3 miles to South Mathieu. Busy but not as bad a North Mathieu. Designated sites only but only a few. You can walk off trail north or south out of the designated camping area and find nice spots and no people. Somewhat sparse vegetation so you don't need a trail. Maybe not camping next to a lake, but you can get nice views.

[WiredHiker]

I was at S. Matthieu lake last weekend. I hit the trail about 9:30 on Saturday and when I got to the lake all 3 campsites were available. I took site 3 and when I got back from my hike down the PCT around 4:30 the other 2 were full. Saw some other people coming through later in the day and not able to find a spot. I would suggest trying to hit the lake around 11 or 12. This might give the people a chance to move on if they are occupying the site the night before. Also most of the people that I saw were day hikers.

Camp Site 3

[BigBear]

Less busy (trailhead and campsites) and no mosquitoes will be you limiting factors on any short hike to a lake.

I'd pick Matthieu Lakes since you can do it as a loop. You also have the advantage of undeveloped tent sites past the lake if you want some level of privacy.

[Chip Down]

If you just want a lake experience, Marion is the place to go. Couldn't drag me there though. Just a pool of water in a basin. Mathieu has much better scenery.

[cruisingat82]

Hey Wired Hiker. Many bugs on your trip?

[WiredHiker]

Didn't have any issues with bugs. Saw a few mosquitoes in the morning, but nothing that was bothersome. There was some breeze which helped. Didn't get any bites.

[mattisnotfrench]

If you just want a lake experience, Marion is the place to go. Couldn't drag me there though. Just a pool of water in a basin. Mathieu has much better scenery.

Marion Lake is one of the best backcountry lakes in the Central Cascades. It's deep, it's got a great view of Jefferson and a huge waterfall near the outlet.

But Matthieu is better this time of year.