RANGER HOLE TRAIL

Length 0.8mi/1.3 km
Access Duckabush River Road (FS Road 2510)
USGS Map Brinnon
Agency Olympic National Forest

The trail begins at the old Interrorem Guard Station (175 ft/53 m), on the 
Duckabush River Road, just beyond the national forest boundary. The square 
log cabin, with its pyramidal, shake-covered roof, dates from 1906. Emery 
Finch, I son of Hoodsport pioneers, served as the first ranger. The fishing 
hole below the station was called Ranger Hole because the ranger lived at 
the guard station.

The well-maintained trail begins near the cabin and traverses an area, logged 
years ago that now supports what are probably the largest specimens of second-
growth Douglas fir to be found in the Olympics. The trees are up to 150 feet 
tall, and many are more than 2 feet in diameter.

Near the trail's beginning, the Interrorem Nature Trail circles to the left, 
but the Ranger Hole Trail heads directly toward the Duckabush River. At first 
the path is fairly level, and the forest has an understory of bigleaf and vine 
maple. The rotting stumps of the giant firs that were logged here give silent 
testimony to the forest's former grandeur.

The trail then descends and one can hear the river, but the sound is distant 
and muted. For a long, straight stretch the broad, smooth path forms an aisle 
through the trees, where the ground cover is mostly deer fern and sword fern. 
Winter wrens trill their song constantly from the heights of the bigleaf maples. 
The birds appear to be happy here in this pleasant environment, and the hiker 
often sees them flitting about beneath the arches of vine maple.

After descending at a moderate grade, the trail drops steeply, and the river 
becomes much louder. Masses of sword ferns border the path, which comes down 
to the river bottom and turns right, or upstream, to a campsite, then leads 
out to a promontory that overlooks Ranger Hole (0.8 mi/1.3 km; 125 ft/38 m).

Here, where countless fishermen have cast their lines, the Duckabush forms a 
deep pool of clear, green-tinted water. Above the pool the river swirls with 
white rapids as it rushes through a narrow chute between rock walls, then drops 
down a slot into the deep recess that forms Ranger Hole. The water, full of air 
bubbles, then wells up from below.

Ranger Hole is one of the most picturesque fishing spots in the Olympics, where 
the steelheads lie in wait-or did. According to anglers who know the area, the 
hole has been fished out, and one cannot catch anything, at least during the 
summer, when the river is high.

Below Ranger Hole the Duckabush flows broadly onward to Hood Canal.