Parking for Ammo/Jewell trails

[ctsparrow]

I'll be taking my daughter up to Lakes soon and weather dependent..parking on the Cog base road may be first choice. Do you really have to park in the designated area or is parking allowed closer to the Cog base, and thus closer to shorter trailheads? Or do they empty the Mansfield Station base(as they call it) every pm? She can handle the whole distance, but am looking for options if available. We are staying one night at Lakes and will exit the next day. Thanks in advance...sue..ctsparrow..someday i'll figure out the avatar thing!!

 

[bobandgeri]

We parked there once last year and were told to park in the hiker lot by the parking attendant - no choice in the matter.

 

[David Metsky]

You can save a few .1 of a mile by parking in the Cog lot, if they let you. In past years they've charged $5, or let you park for free, or said you couldn't park there at all, it seems to vary at times.

I always park in the Ammy lot, it's really only an extra .2 or so and I already have the parking sticker.

-dave-

 

[Jim lombard]

I always park in the Ammy lot, it's really only an extra .2 or so

-dave-

And it's mostly downhill, a nice easy walk.

 

[Zimmer]

We took the kids up Washington via the Jewell/Ammo loop ten days ago, and were able to park in the lower part of the Cog lot. It was a crystal clear Saturday, and lots of hikers were doing likewise. There was no attendant in sight.

I'm surprised at the 0.2 figure. The book has the difference at 0.7. Guessing that the walk from the lower lot to the trailhead is about 0.1, that still would make it about 0.6 difference (plus another half mile or so on the Jewell end). I wouldn't think twice about it if we didn't have short-legged people along, but I was glad to trim the distance a bit for the kids.

Sorry, can't help on the overnight question, though?

 

[Jim lombard]

I think where the Jewell splits is about the same distance either way. We took the spur (left) to the Cog RR parking lot as the bridge on the spur leading to the Ammo lot was knocked sideways during the spring.

If you're doing an overnight, definitely park at the Ammo trailhead.