DODGER POINT TRAIL

Abandoned trail, no longer maintained
Length 6.0 mi/9.7 km
Access Elwha Trail
USGS Maps McCartney Peak; Mount Queets
Agency Olympic National Park

The trail begins on the Elwha River's west bank, 1.5-mi/2.4 km above Elkhorn 
Ranger Station on the Elwha Trail, and climbs to Dodger Point. One must cross 
the Elwha in order to reach the trail. The river changes yearly, thus varying 
the nature of the ford (1450 ft/442 m), which is just beyond the Remann Cabin. 
Occasionally, one can find a log spanning the stream. More likely, however, 
the hiker will have to wade. This does not pose a problem in late summer and 
fall, when the river is shallow, but it can be difficult or impossible when 
the water is high. One should check with the National Park Service as to the 
river's condition at any particular time.

After making a steep ascent to the edge of Semple Plateau, which consists of 
level terraces, the grade eases and the path winds through stands of hemlock 
and huge Douglas fir. The route then steepens again as the trail climbs to the 
plateau's main level. Early in the summer, after the snow has melted out, this 
area is often quite boggy, and the trail becomes faint and indistinct. Hikers 
should bear to the far right as they pass through a variety of small, grassy 
spaces.

The Press Party explorers named this bench Semple Plateau for Eugene Semple, 
former governor of Washington Territory. The men did so because they believed 
(probably mistakenly) that the place was the site of an ancient Indian village 
that could have furnished the basis for the legends of Indian camps and 
conventions that the governor had related. This bench, which covers about 200 
acres on the west side of the Elwha north of the Goldie River, is mantled with 
gravels that are grown up with stunted pines, which contrast with the large firs 
and hemlocks on the adjacent slopes. According to geologist Rowland W. Tabor, the 
gravels were probably the outwash delta of the Goldie, where the stream entered 
ancient Lake Elwha-the water impounded in the Elwha Valley when the outlet was 
blocked by the Cordilleran Ice Sheet during the Ice Age.

The trail crosses the flat plateau, then switchbacks as it climbs above Goldie 
Canyon and The Gallery-the jutting rock from which the Press Party made observations 
and took photographs. However, The Gallery is not visible from the trail. The 
path ascends steadily, always up with almost never a step down, and the roar 
of the Goldie comes up from below. The hiker can see Mount Norton through the 
trees and glimpse the deep canyon, bordered by heavily forested slopes, with 
snow-clad peaks rising beyond.

As the trail climbs higher, the firs become larger, and the ground cover is 
almost exclusively salal, with a scattering of little pines. At 2.0 mi/3.2 km 
one can sec Ludden Peak and the Long Ridge Trail on its face-the part that was 
blasted from the cliff. The hikers first impression is that it is a road, not a 
trail, cutting across the mountain.

Beyond this point the trees, now predominantly western hemlock, are festooned 
with lichen. The trail then makes a long traverse to the eastward, and the sound 
of the Goldie is reduced to a subdued murmur. Occasionally the harsh croaking of 
ravens breaks the silence. The path switchbacks up to a spur, then the grade 
moderates, only to climb steeply again through dense stands of Douglas fir. 
Surprisingly, the trees are larger here. The forest gradually becomes less dense, 
however, and other species appear-silver fir, mountain hemlock, and Alaska cedar. 
The undergrowth is largely huckleberry.

The path now enters a bit of open country (3.7 mi/6.0 km; 4200 ft71280 m), a 
narrow, grassy finger that extends down from a large meadow above. A little 
rivulet flows here, the first water beyond the Elwha-at least in late summer 
and fall. Wild flowers are abundant, especially thistle and elephants head. 
The meadow is quiet and peaceful; no sound is heard except the gurgling of the 
tiny stream. Many snags on the hillside above have created a ghost forest. The 
pointed summit of Mount Scott is visible to the southwest; Mount Wilder is to 
the south.

The trail crosses into a larger meadow, where the slope above is covered with 
snags and living trees, the silvery trunks of the former contrasting with the 
green foliage of the latter. Numerous subalpine firs having the traditional 
Christmas-tree shape are scattered over the meadow, where tags attached to the 
trees mark the way because the trail is indistinct.

The path goes into more or less open stands of subalpine trees, then breaks out 
into a spot having a view of mountains all around, thus giving one a taste of 
what the summit panorama will be like. Again wildflowers make a display, prominent 
among them the pearly everlasting and lupine. Huckleberries are abundant in late 
summer, and another little brook in a willow patch provides water for the thirsty 
hiker.

The trail makes a long, almost level traverse to the west, crosses a rock 
slide, then intersects, beside a small pond, (he Long Ridge Trail (5.1 mi/8.2 km; 
5000 ft/ 1524 m). The Bailey Range-particularly Stephen Peak and Mount Carrie, 
dominates the view here.

Beyond this point the two routes merge briefly as the trail ascends the ridge 
that leads to the summit. One can look down to the Elwha on the right and see 
Mount Anderson on the skyline. The river appears to be bordered by groves of 
deciduous trees. The trail then forks (5.5 mi/8.9 km; 5200 ft/1585 m). The left 
branch is a continuation of the Long Ridge Trail north through Dodger Basin; the 
right branch, the Dodger Point Trail, climbs to Dodger Point.

The trail now follows the watershed between the Goldie and Long Creek. The ridges 
south side is timbered. The barren northern slope drops sharply to Dodger Basin, 
a glacial cirque shaped like a half-moon or amphitheater, with the ridge that 
leads to the summit forming the curved side. As it circles the head of the basin, 
the trail leaves the ridge crest, and with almost every upward step the view 
improves, many snow-flecked peaks rising to the east and southeast. The path ends 
at Dodger Point (6.0 mi/9.7 km; 5753 ft/1754 m).

The old cabin on the summit is no longer used as a fire lookout, but it should be 
preserved as an example of structures that were once numerous. Anchored by cables 
to withstand winter storms, the building sits atop the rounded, grassy knoll, 
surrounded by meadowland with cone shaped subalpine firs clustered below.

Due to its central location, Dodger Point is one of the superlative viewpoints 
in the Olympics, and the 360-degree panorama is outstanding. Most of the major 
peaks are visible, including, of course, the ones in the nearby Bailey Range. Mount 
Rainier tops the far horizon. Olympus dominates, however, looming above all. 
Southward is the Elwha Valley, with snowy peaks standing in the distance. Beyond 
the Elwha, to the left, the cliffs of Mount Anderson rise above the dark, shadowy 
canyon of the Hayes River. The view to the north and east includes meadow-crested 
ridges that are almost barren in late summer. Beyond them lies the Strait of Juan 
de Fuca. 

Overnight camping is prohibited at Dodger Point, but hikers can pitch their 
tents in Dodger Basin, only a half-mile distant, and then spend an evening in 
the lookout, which provides a grandstand seat from which to observe the stars, 
and to watch the northern lights when they are present. Hikers should carry 
flashlights with fresh batteries, as the descent from the lookout to Dodger Basin 
will probably occur during the hours of darkness.