SHADY LANE

Length 1.0 mi/1.6 km 
Access FS Road 2451 
USGS Map Mount Skokomish 
Agency Olympic National Park

This path is the national park section of the old Dry Creek 
Trail, which was severed from the national forest part by 
construction of FS Road 2451. The trail follows the west 
side of the North Fork Skokomish to the head of Lake 
Cushman.

Beginning across the river from the Staircase Ranger 
Station (785 ft/239 m), at the end of FS Road 24, the trail 
goes south toward Fisher's Bluff and crosses Elk Creek. A 
dark hole then looms up in the cliff just ahead—a tunnel 
that prospectors abandoned after they had penetrated 15 or 
20 feet into the mountain in a vain search for manganese 
and copper. During the summer the tunnel is dry and one can 
walk in and look out; but in the winter the floor is often 
covered with water.

As it skirts the base of Fisher's Bluff, the path follows a 
ledge that overlooks a deep pool in the river. This shelf 
was blasted in the cliff about 1910 by miners who 
volunteered to do the work if the Forest Service provided 
the powder. The name Fisher's Bluff honors Private Harry 
Fisher, a member of the 1890 O'Neil expedition. The bluff 
was the first obstacle the party faced in building a mule 
trail up the Skokomish. Trout were abundant in the river 
during the pioneer days, and O'Neil's troopers caught a 
great number while fishing from the rocks at this point.

Beyond the bluff the path goes through groves of giant fir, 
cedar, and hemlock on the level bottomlands. This area is 
one of the finest examples of virgin forest on the eastern 
side of the national park. Many trees are 6 to 8 feet in 
diameter, with heights in excess of 250 feet, and one fir 
near the park boundary is 11 feet in diameter, The 
luxuriant understory beneath the conifers consists of 
bigleaf and vine maple, with black cottonwood close to the 
river.

During the late 1950s the National Park Service permitted 
the Forest Service to build FS Road 2451 across this corner 
of the park in order to tap stands of timber on the upper 
reaches of Elk Creek and Four Stream, an area that would 
(and logically should) have been included in the park had 
the boundaries been drawn on topographic lines. Without 
regard to the effect it would have upon the beautiful 
groves along Shady Lane, the road builders blasted tons of 
rock from the mountainside in order that the road could 
climb above Fisher's Bluff. The rocks tumbled down the 
slope, destroying the trees and leaving ugly scars that 
spoiled the beauty of the forest backdrop. Worse still was 
the loss of solitude. On weekdays, logging trucks roar up 
and down the road, kicking up dust and breaking the silence 
that the hiker should experience when walking among the big 
trees. One can look away from the destruction but cannot 
ignore the noise. Before this road was built, the only 
sounds to be heard were the sighing of the wind in the 
trees and the distant murmur of the river.

Beyond the national park boundary (0.9 mi/1.4 km; 768 
ft/234 m), the route goes through second-growth forest to a 
road where summer homes have been built. This road leads 
into FS Road 2451 (1.0 mi/1.6 km), which approaches via the 
causeway at the head of Lake Cushman. The path continues on 
the other side of FS Road 2451 as the Dry Creek Trail.

One of the delights of Shady Lane is to leave the trail 
opposite the rock slides caused by the road construction 
and wander to the river, then go south and circle back west 
to the trail again. This walk takes one through groves of 
huge cedars and firs and along glades near the river where 
deer are likely to be observed. One of the firs has an 
osprey's nest in its top, and the birds can be observed 
from a vantage point among the trees.