One Night Wonders: Couples, Goodwin Lake to Granite Hot Springs

Goodwin Lake to Granite Hot Springs
Gros Ventre Wilderness, WY

Picture this: Steam from a natural hot spring curling around you and your sweetie after a day filled with mountain vistas, alpine terrain, and a solitary campsite. Get it all on this 22-mile shuttle route. From the Goodwin Lake trailhead, 3 miles of uphill hiking through fragrant Douglas firs leads to Goodwin Lake, where most hikers turn around. Continue a mile south to gain the ridge. Option: detour a mile north on a user path to bag 13,517-foot Jackson Peak. Take the Granite Creek and Turquoise Lake Trails east to Turquoise Lake (9.5 total miles for day one); camp amid a pastiche of sapphire water and glacier-sculpted rock. Day two, reconnect with the eastbound Granite Creek Trail and hike for 12.5 miles, crossing turbulent Granite Creek (water shoes are handy in early summer) and passing below a natural arch before claiming your posthike reward: Granite Hot Springs’ soothing, 100°F pools framed by raw boulders and pines. Trailhead 12 miles northeast of Jackson; 43.506468, -110.630547Shuttle car 43.368218, -110.446112Shuttle service Alltrans (307) 733-3135 Best season August and September, for easy water crossings Permit None Hot springs $6; camping $15; bit.ly/GraniteHS Contact (307) 739-5500; fs.usda.gov/btnf