MOUNT WASHINGTON TRAIL

Way trail, limited maintenance 
Length 1.6-mi/2,6 km 
Access FS Road 2419 
USGS Map Mount Washington 
Agency Olympic National Forest

The trail begins at the upper edge of a clearcut (3000 
ft/914 m) on FS Road 2419, the Big Creek Road, and 6.7 
mi/10.8 km from its junction with FS Road 24. The broad, 
smooth path climbs at a gentle grade through mature fir and 
hemlock forest. The elevation is comparatively high, yet 
the firs are 3 feet or more in diameter, which explains why 
logging operations, have gone so far up the mountainside.

After making several long traverses, the trail crosses a 
level saddle. The Douglas-firs have disappeared, and the 
forest is now exclusively western hemlock and Pacific 
silver fir. A pile of logs that block the way (1.1 mi/1.8 
km; 3850 ft/1173 m) marks the end of the maintained trail, 
but the path continues about a half mile down into the 
Jefferson Creek drainage. Although the abandoned section is 
in fair condition, the fallen logs have not been cut out. 
The path descends from the saddle, then traverses, with 
views out across the valley of Jefferson Creek. After 
crossing a stream, the trail goes into a jungle of slide 
alder, Alaska cedar, and devil's club, where it disappears 
(ca. 1.6 mi/2.6 km; 3300 ft/1006 m).

At the log pile in the saddle, a climbers' scramble route 
leads, left, up the mountainside. This steep, rough path is 
less than a half-mile long and is better suited to mountain 
goats than hikers, although climbers' boots created it. One 
clambers over a succession of roots, moss-covered boulders, 
and logs, the path going directly up a spur. After a steep 
climb, the trail comes out onto a precipitous, rocky ridge, 
where it ends. The view is good—Mount Washington is 
straight ahead, and one can see Lake Cushman, the peaks 
west of it, the Big Bend of Hood Canal, Mount Rainier, and 
part of Puget Sound.