Bowman Lake

Bowman Lake is one of the park’s prettiest and least visited. (There’s a reason for this—it’s at the end of a long, rough, narrow dirt road.) Long and thin and surrounded by mountains, this is a good spot for photography and reflection.

Hiking trails start at the Bowman Lake campground [1] and head seven miles along the lakeshore to the head of the lake (then up to Brown Pass and other trails), or up into the mountains that come right down to the lake.

The six-mile trail to Numa Lookout combines the two: It starts along the lake then climbs nearly 3,000 feet to the lookout. The campground here is usually pretty uncrowded; RVs are not recommended, and it’s a good place to follow bear-country precautions.