You will want to plan a classic spike camp mountain goat hunt in this unit. Getting into the better goat habitat will require multiple miles and a few thousand feet in elevation, which is not the type of hike you want to do every morning and night.

There have been many reports of mountain goats living on the Bear Creek Mountain. This is a great place to gain initial elevation into goat habitat and gain access to some other good goat habitat further south.

This unit consists of two major drainages leading up to the summit ridgeback in the southwest corner of the unit. The highest elevations and most of the classic goat habitat is found along this unit boundary. Goats can be found anywhere along these long ridgebacks that run up and down the unit, but you should really concentrate on accessing the higher elevations like Gilbert Peak, Ives Peak, and Old Snowy Mountain where you will find large snowfields, rock faces, and shale covered chutes. There are no established trails heading into these areas so you will need to plan for some trailblazing. Outside of the small amount of water coming off of the snowfields towards the top, there is little water in this area, so plan accordingly.

There is a wide variety of vegetation in the Wenatchee National Forest; you can expect to see many species, such as vine maple, sword fern, douglas fir, western red cedar, alder, western hemlock, mountain hemlock, and the yellow cedar. There are multiple species of grasses, ferns, shrubbery, and wildflowers that make up the forest floor. Most of the vegetation, except the wildflowers, some grass and the occasional twisted whitebark pine, begin to fade as you gain elevation.

Access is quite limited in this unit. Although there are trailheads that will take you close the areas you will want to be hunting, these trails fizzle out before it’s time to make the ascent into higher elevations -much of the climbing from this point on will happen by trailblazing or using game trails. Tieton Road works its way along the south side of Rimrock Lake in the northern part of the unit. You will want to look for the turn off of South Fork Tieton Road and then immediately turn again onto the Pine Tree Road. After a few miles, you will again turn on to Bear Creek Mountain Road which is the main route into the backcountry. At the end of Bear Creek Mountain Road, you will find the Section 3 Lake trailhead which will split just shy of a mile into your hike, from here you can choose to go right onto the Bear Creek Mountain Trail or left onto the Tieton Meadows Trail. Both of these routes will get you close to better goat habitat, and you will have lots to glass even before you get there.

You will need to prepare for a backcountry spike camp on this trip and will need to double check with the National Forest for any closures, restrictions, or permits you may need. The only established campgrounds on the main access route are all the way back at Rimrock Lake, so your base camp may even be a primitive camp. If you need a bed and shower, fuel, and/or groceries, you will find these things back on Hwy 12 around the lake, and in the small town of Rimrock, but you may not want to rely on these areas entirely and try and have your shopping done before leaving for your hunt.