MOUNT ANGELES TRAIL

Length 10.0 mi/16.1 km
Access Hurricane Ridge Road
USGS Maps Mount Angeles; Port Angeles
Agency Olympic National Park

This popular trail climbs from Heart o" the Hills to Mount Angeles, half-circles 
the peak, then follows Sunrise Ridge to Big Meadow on Hurricane Ridge. Much of 
the distance the route traverses subalpine country that attracts the casual hiker 
because the views are good and the access is easy from Hurricane Ridge.

Beginning on the Hurricane Ridge Road near the park entrance station (1840 ft/ 
561 m), the trail first winds through stands of second-growth fir and hemlock as 
it ascends a spur of Mount Angeles. The forest on the peak's northern slopes was 
burned a century ago, when fires set by homesteaders swept up the mountainsides, 
and one can still see blackened stumps and rocks. Halfway Rock (2.5 mi/3.5 km; ca. 
3000 ft/914 m) marks the midpoint between the road and Heather Park. This glacial 
erratic was pushed up the slope by the ice sheet that moved down the strait during 
the Ice Age. A shelter is located nearby.

Trilliums brighten the somber forest in early summer. Higher up, near timberline, 
the ribbed leaves of false hellebore are conspicuous, and violets lurk among the 
rocks.

Emerging from the trees, the trail enters the open country of Heather Park (4.1 mi/
6.6 km; 5300 ft/1615 m), a meadowland splotched with subalpine firs and colorful 
displays of lupine. The park occupies the basin lying between First Peak and Second 
Peak. The snowfields, jutting cliffs, and pillow lavas of the latter rise directly 
above the meadow; Heather Falls are nearby.

The trail then climbs sharply to Heather Pass (4.6 mi/7.4 km; 5650 ft/1722 m), the 
windswept gap between the two peaks, where a stand of fire-killed subalpine trees 
grimly remind one of nature's harshness. Two way trails lead from the pass-one to 
each peak.

Everyone should take the short walk to First Peak (5740 ft/1750 m), which is noted 
for wildflowers blooming in the splintered shale. Many dwarf plants live here, among 
them phlox, violets, and subalpine lupine. On all sides basalt pinnacles stand like 
dark-robed goblins. The summit is a good place to spend the evening when one is camped 
at Heather Park. As the setting sun approaches the horizon, it appears to flatten, 
due to atmospheric refraction. The northern coastline of the peninsula becomes a 
silhouette, and with the darkness the stars appear, and land and water turn purplish 
gray, then black. When the evening chill becomes pronounced, the lights appear in Port 
Angeles, at the mountain's base, as well as in Victoria, 30 miles across the strait.

Hardier souls scramble up Second Peak (6025 ft/1836 m) or cross over Heather Pass 
and make the long trek to Third Peak (6454 ft/1967 m), the highest point of Mount 
Angeles. The views from these vantage points include the entire length of the strait, 
with Vancouver Island lying darkly to the north. The distant San Juan Islands and 
Mount Baker form a scenic backdrop. Southward is the snowy wilderness of the Olympics, 
with Hurricane Ridge in the foreground.

Beyond Heather Pass the trail descends scree slopes, then traverses beneath pinnacles 
on the west side of Second Peak. Thumb Rock (5485 ft/1672 m), to the tight, raises 
sheer above Little River Valley. (One can leave the trail here and climb a snowfield 
that leads to the summit of Third Peak.) The trail then climbs to the notch (5.5 mi/
8.9 km; 5760 ft/1756 m) between Second Peak and Third Peak. The latter is composed 
of sedimentary and volcanic rock. The northeast shoulder of the mountain consists of 
alternate layers tilted beyond the vertical (that is, leaning over), so that what 
originally was the upper layer is, now underneath. Differential erosion has created 
chimneys, ledges, ribs, flutes, and pinnacles. The shale slides and scree slopes below 
are colorful in summer with displays of Douglasia and erysimum.

Crossing over to the northeast side of Third Peak, the trail traverses south, descending 
scree slopes below cliffs, then climbs to a junction with the Klahhane Ridge Trail at 
Victor Pass (6.4 mi/10.3 km; 5880 ft/1792 m), where goats are likely to be observed. 
This gap was used in 1885 by Lieutenant Joseph P. O'Neil's expedition in the northeastern 
Olympics. O'Neil named it for Victor Smith, prominent Port Angeles pioneer and father 
of Norman R. Smith, a member of the expedition. 

Below the pass the trail descends steep, rocky slopes to a junction with the Switchback 
Trail (7.4 mi/11.9 km; 5100 ft/1554 m), then contours westward to another junction, 
this time with a climbers' way path that goes about 1.5 mi/2.4 km up the south ridge 
of Mount Angeles. At this junction the trail turns in a more southerly direction and 
climbs to Sunrise Ridge (5500 ft/1676 m), which it follows through meadowland and 
subalpine forest to Big Meadow on Hurricane Ridge (10.0 mi/16.1 km; 5230 ft/1594 m). 
Sunrise Ridge is a popular snowshoe and ski touring route during the winter and spring 
months.