JEFFERSON RIDGE TRAIL

Limited maintenance 
Length 2.8 mi/4.5 km 
Access FS Road 2421 
USGS Map Mount Washington 
Agency Olympic National Forest

The trailhead (1100 ft/335 m) is located at the end of FS 
Road 2421,which can be reached by FS Roads 2480 and 25.

At first the trail climbs at a moderate grade through an 
area that has been logged and is now covered with stands of 
second-growth fir and a heavy under growth of salal, 
rhododendron, and vine maple. As the path switchbacks up 
the mountainside, it crosses an old Cat track, which goes 
straight up the hill. The trail more or less parallels this 
skid road, which it recrosses; then, beyond the sixteenth 
switchback, the trail quits fooling around and follows the 
track directly up. This makes the route steeper and more 
arduous. Eventually, however, the trail leaves the sun-
drenched slope and enters the cool and shaded virgin 
forest. The path now veers away from the Cat track and 
again has a pleasant grade.

Upon attaining the crest of Jefferson Ridge, the trail 
follows the divide, zig zagging as it ascends through the 
forest, which now contains a good deal of western hemlock. 
Once again the trail and Cat track coincide, and the route 
steepens as it follows the skid road.

The hiker then receives a surprise—the trail skirts the 
edge of a big clearcut on the south side of the ridge. Here 
it goes out into the warm sunshine, where tiny evergreens 
are beginning to establish a foothold among the 
rhododendrons and fireweed. At this point one can see Hood 
Canal, but most of the hiker's attention is devoted to 
clambering up the steep slope, where logging obliterated 
the trail. The path, consisting of loose stones and gravel, 
goes straight up the mountainside.

Beyond the logged area the trail goes back into the forest 
and either follows the ridge crest or traverses to one 
side. The path now goes by the only hazard on the route—a 
deep cave or hole right beside the trail, where one can 
look straight down.

Presently, the trail leaves the cool shade of the woods, 
comes out onto the ridge top, and ends just ahead, where 
the fire lookout cabin formerly stood (2.8 mi/ 4.5 km; 3832 
ft/1168 m). One of the last lookouts constructed in the 
Olympics, the building was erected in 1961 at a cost of 
$60,000, and then destroyed six years later, when lookouts 
were abandoned in favor of airplanes and helicopters. 
Nothing remains but a pile of debris—concrete blocks and 
footings, burned timbers, cable, melted glass, bolts, and 
sheet iron.

When the cabin was built, the trees were cut down, thus 
creating an impressive 360-degree vista. However, young 
ones are now growing up and beginning to obscure the scene. 
Due north stand The Brothers, which are only 5 miles 
distant. The view clockwise from that mountain includes the 
ridges and foothills, then bits and pieces of Hood Canal 
and the low hills beyond, with the Cascades, topped by 
Mount Rainier, on the horizon; the ridges from Hood Canal 
to Mount Washington, which are covered with a multitude of 
recent clearcuts; then the peaks of the Olympics-Washington 
and Pershing; the Sawtooth Range, capped by Cruiser; 
Skokomish; Stone, with its snowfield; Bretherton and Lena, 
and back to The Brothers. Far to the north, in the gap 
between Lena and The Brothers, one can see a rounded peak 
with a snowfield (Mount Deception) and a steep pyramid 
(Mount Mystery).

On a warm summer day, the lookout is a pleasant place to 
linger. Cool breezes sweep across the ridge, and one can 
hear the signals made by loggers working in the foothills, 
occasionally the purr of a plane flying over the mountains, 
or perhaps the clatter of a helicopter. Yet, oddly enough, 
one has the sensation that this is a place of solitude.