Todd Lake

Todd Lake in the Three Sisters Wilderness

Website: https://www.fs.usda.gov/recarea/deschutes/recarea/?recid=39310

The 45-acre Todd Lake in the Cascade Range of Central Oregon is a picturesque natural lake, honoring John Y. Todd – an early inhabitant of this region. Presently, it is being managed by the United States Forest Service as part of Deschutes National Forest and serves as an idyllic escape to nature for locals and tourists alike!

Fishing

On a regular basis, the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife strategically stocks the lake with brook trout. In addition, anglers can also find rainbow trout, brown trout and mountain whitefish in the lake.

Recreation

On the west shore of Todd Lake lies a day-use area and rustic campground – the perfect spot to enjoy outdoor activities like fishing, picnicking, hiking and nature viewing during summertime. And let’s not forget winter! Skiing and snowshoeing across trails in the vicinity can be just as fun when temperatures dip low. Whether you’re looking for some warm weather adventure or cold weather thrill; Todd Lake awaits!

Todd Lake Campground

The campground is located on the south end of the lake. Camping is limited to the assigned campsites in order to maintain a safe and pleasant environment for all visitors.

Location of Todd Lake Recreation Area

Reviews

“Hiked (the long trail to no name lake 15+ miles hiking) todd lake trail to soda creek trail to broken top trail with the intention of hiking to no name lake, made a left at broken top trail and that took me about 6 miles round trip out of the way to green lakes campground. Green lakes trail is worth a trip as I saw a turquoise lake from afar, saw three lakes total from the hike in campground. Heard a raging creek on the green lakes trail if you were to go left on green lakes from broken top. And had gorgeous views of broken top and another couple of mountains I don’t know the names of. The camping spots at green lakes were really nice. I saw no trash whatsoever on any of these trails. Backtracked from green lakes trail to broken top, soda creek trail junction and made a hard right if I were to of just come off soda creek trail, making a right here will take you to no name lake. Follow broken top all the way around broken top. The trail can be hard to navigate at times, make sure you have a map or are using your preloaded alltrails map to make sure you are going the right way. I didn’t remember this until the second portion of broken top trail. From the front of broken top trail to no name lake is definitely hard, as in steep up hills, expect 2hrs or longer depending on your energy levels etc and 5 plus miles to get to no name lake from the soda creek, broken top junction. No name lake was gorgeous, but you cannot swim in it right now as there is a dead elk carcass in the lake right where you hit the trail from the creek. Also not safe for dogs to drink water a creek and lake because of this. The creek area is a scramble to get up and from the base it’s hard to navigate where the trail starts in the rock feilds, I went to the far right and made it to the creek. Saw two trails up to the lake, one looked sketch from the beginning to the right but I think it would have been more easy up and down. There are trails around no name lake that are tiny, but worth exploration. No name lake is a must see.The way down I was lucky to catch a ride with a woman who parked at one of the upper broken top trailheads past the gate at Todd lake. Make sure you have high clearance vehicle as the road is no lie rough. There was a road that went even farther up that one of the women said was even more rough than the trailhead where she parked. Low clearance vehicles would have a hard time getting up this road as it is more like 1 lane instead of the 2 it’s supposed to be. There are lots of deep ruts and large rocks in the road. Started this trail at around 6am in the dark and didnt finish until 3:34pm, unfortunately I did not get the chance to see Todd lake as it was blanketed in fog in the early morning and still on the dark side when I passed it. You have to walk in to todd lake from the trailhead as the gate to the lake is closed. There is a large parking area that will fit 20 vehicles or so and no other areas to park as you enter Todd lake from the scenic byway. If you do go straight to broken top trail when the gates are open, there is one small lot to park before the road gets really rough, maybe 5 spots, I saw another trailhead about a mile or so into the road. Then the one we came down from and supposedly another one if you go to the right when coming up. Must have 4-wheel drive for the last trailhead. Loved this place, a lot of beautiful things to look at. When I started at 6am it was 26 degrees out on 9/17/18. So dress warm and in layers. If you are starting early, I wish I would have worn thermals under my pants as my thighs were super freezing until about 9 or 10am. There are a lot of creek crossings on this trail and it is helpful to have a walking stick or trekking poles to navigate across without getting wet. In the fall mornings it is icy out.Go early enough and you will hardly see anyone on the trails to name lake in the fall. When I got to Todd lake at 5:30am I was the first car. Didnt see a soul until about 8 or 9am.”

Solofemalehiker38

“Easy little jaunt. It was my sons’ first time hiking out of the backpack and he did awesome! We had amazing views of Mt. Bachelor and found some little fish for him to catch and release (in buckets).”

Ana Blackburn

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