BOGACHIEL TRAIL

Length 32.7 mi/52.6 km
Access Bogachiel River Road (FS Road 2932)
USGS Maps Bogachiel Peak; Slide Peak; Hunger Mountain; Indian Pass
Agency Olympic National Park

The Bogachiel Trail traverses the northwestern slope of the Olympics, 
where the hiker can expect quiet, undisturbed solitude. The trail parallels 
the Bogachiel River to the base of Sugarloaf Mountain, then follows the 
North Fork Bogachiel to its headwaters and climbs to Slide Pass and Little 
Divide. Beyond this point the route meanders along the Soleduck-Bogachiel 
Divide to Bogachiel Peak, at the head of the Bogachiel.

The trail begins at 4.3 mi/6.9 km on the Bogachiel River Road, FS Road 2932 
(as far as it can be driven). At first the path follows the old abandoned 
roadbed on the river bottom, where it crosses several creeks and goes through 
alder groves and what might be termed second-growth rain forest. The trail 
then enters the virgin forest and shortly afterward crosses into the national 
park (2.0 mi/3.2 km; 350 ft/ 107 m). Within the park it traverses luxuriant 
bottomland and a cut over area where decaying stumps remind one that big spruce 
trees once grew here. The trail soon returns to the virgin forest, however, and 
penetrates typical stands of spruce-hemlock having dense undergrowth of moss-draped 
vine maple. The terrain is uneven, the trail rising and dipping slightly.

At the junction of the Indian Pass Trail (6.1 mi/9.8 km; 450 ft/137 m), is Bogachiel 
Camp, formerly the site of a ranger station and trail shelter, located in the midst 
of bell-bottomed spruce trees. The rain forest now becomes increasingly luxuriant 
and, so far as the Bogachiel is concerned, reaches its optimum development in this 
section. Splendid stands of Douglas-fir cover the slopes north of the river, spruce 
and western hemlock occupy the bottomlands, where elk roam during the winter and 
spring. The largest known silver fir, almost 7 feet in diameter, is located on the 
south side of the river, about 2.5-mi/4.0 km above the Bogachiel Camp. Beyond the 
junction with the South Snider/Jackson Trail (8.2 mi/13.2 km; 500 ft/152 m), the 
route meanders to Flapjack Camp (10.3 mi/16.6 km; 650 ft/ 198 m): then at the base 
of Sugarloaf Mountain it leaves the Bogachiel and follows the North Fork. This stream 
flows into the main river from the northeast.

Fifteen Mile Shelter (14.4 mi/23.2 km; 1000 ft/305 m), surrounded by giant Douglas 
firs, stands on a bench above the North Fork, near a falls and rapids. At the point 
where the trail crosses the stream, the river has cut a gorge in thick beds of sandstone. 
Beyond this crossing, the trail climbs high above the chattering stream, which is 
visible below, then returns to the river bottom.

Hyak Shelter (17.4 mi/28.0 km; 1400 ft/427 m) is located near the river at the edge 
of a meadow encircled by big trees. Here one can see the ridges to the north and south. 
The trail then traverses just above the North Fork, and for several miles the forest 
appears to have been manicured. The tall, straight trees-mostly hemlock, but also Douglas 
fir, cedar, and silver fir-lift their crowns above masses of oxalis, vanilla leaf, 
and ferns. The park like appearance is enhanced by the lack of brushy undergrowth and 
fallen trees. 

At Twenty-one Mile Camp (20.6 mi/33.2 km; 2214 ft/675 m), where a trail shelter collapsed 
in 1999, the trail begins to climb to the head of the North Fork Bogachiel, switchbacking 
through forests of western hemlock. Near Slide Pass (22.1 mi/35.6 km; 3600 ft/1097 m), where 
the trail crosses over from the North Fork to the Bogachiel, the forest is chiefly silver fir 
although it includes both western and mountain hemlock.

As it follows the Soleduck-Bogachiel Divide, the trail climbs, first on one side of the ridge, 
then the other, and the hiker can glimpse the ridges across the Bogachiel Valley. The 
ridge then widens, and the trail breaks out into a meadow having sweeping views across 
the upper Bogachiel to Mount Olympus and the Bailey Range. On the North Slope, Blackwood 
Lake, encircled by forest, lies cupped in a bowl a thousand feet below, and Slide Peak 
rises to the northwest. The lake contains Eastern brook trout. Looking down Blackwood 
Creek, beyond the lake, one sees a series of forested ridges that extend almost to the 
Strait of Juan de Fuca.

Mountain hemlocks are scattered in the meadows, and the ground is covered with a variety 
of bushes and plants-juniper, huckleberry, bracken tern, heather, strawberries, Columbia 
lilies, stonecrop, and mountain azalea. A benchmark gives the elevation as 4304ft/1312 m. 
The trail then follows the ridge to a junction with the Mink Lake Trail at Little Divide 
(24.8 mi/39.9 km; 4130 ft/1259 m), where a tiny meadow provides a good view of several 
peaks-Olympus, Tom, Hoh, and Bogachiel.

The route contours through dense forest above Bogachiel Lake, which lies at the foot of a 
steep slope, then crosses a notch to the Soleduck side and descends to a junction with the 
Canyon Creek Trail in a swampy meadow at the upper end of Deer Like (28.4 mi/45.7 km; 
3550 ft/1082 m).

The path now climbs back toward the Soleduck-Bogachiel Divide, meandering through a 
district known as The Potholes. Here it goes by a half dozen small lakes, where beargrass 
makes showy displays in late July. Numerous campsites arc located among the tarns, but 
the area is inclined to be marshy; consequently, gnats and mosquitoes are likely to be 
annoying.

As the trail gains altitude, the forest becomes thinner, giving way to meadows and clumps 
of mountain hemlock, with vistas of softly outlined ridges to the north and east. Deer 
Lake looks like a blue disk in the forest below. This is beautiful high country-rolling 
terrain with knolls topped by mountain hemlocks. Heather, lupine, and huckleberry are 
abundant.

After going by The Snake Pit, a clump of mountain hemlocks contorted and coiled like so 
many boa constrictors, the trail crosses the divide and breaks out into Bogachiel Basin. 
Here it climbs at a moderate grade as it traverses a steep mountainside, and Bogachiel 
Peak looms ahead. The rock gardens, slides, and grassy slopes are colorful with an array 
of wildflowers: glacier and avalanche lilies bloom in early summer, often pushing up 
through the receding snow; lupine, daisies, and mountain buckwheat blossom later. The rock 
outcrops arc decorated with phlox, lomatium, Harebell, pcnstemon, tufted saxifrage, paintbrush, 
violet, and stonecrop. Wildlife is also abundant. Bears visit this area to feast on 
huckleberries, and when they appear the shrill whistles of marmots pierce the air. The 
elk herds that range the Bogachiel and Hoh bottoms during the winter move up to this high 
country in the summer. They are often in sight here, either grazing in the meadows or 
resting on the snowfields during the afternoon heat.

Near Bogachiel Peak the terrain becomes more rugged, and the trail follows a razorback 
ridge where both red and white mountain-heather and stunted subalpine trees grow among 
blocks of sandstone. The trail intersects the Seven Lakes Basin Trail at a boulder-strewn 
notch in the ridge (31.8 mi/51.2 km; 4900 ft/1494 m). This vantage point overlooks the 
Seven Lakes Basin.

Between this junction and Bogachiel Peak, the hiker walks the "magic mile," one of the 
most beautiful and interesting paths in the Olympics. The trail crosses rock slides, makes 
seven short switchbacks as it ascends a steep slope, then curves like a slalom skier as 
it follows the ridge, going through meadows and scattered stands of subalpine trees, 
mountain ash, and juniper. The snow lies in deep drifts here well into summer, but after 
it disappears the wildflowers come into their own: false hellebore, elephant's head, 
arnica, phlox, thistle, Columbia lily, penstemon, anemone, bistort, spiraea, paintbrush, 
and stonecrop. The trail climbs among rough sandstone boulders to a saddle overlooking 
the snowfields on the north side of Bogachiel Peak, and then contours the western slope 
to a U-shaped pass on the south side, where it intersects the Hoh Lake Trail and the High 
Divide-Bailey Range Trail (32.7 mi/52.6 km; 5200 ft/1585 m). The view from this point of 
the upper Hoh Valley, the Bailey Range, and Mount Olympus is outstanding.