SAMS RIVER TRAIL Abandoned trail, no longer maintained Length 12.0 mi/19.3 km Access Quests River Road USGS Maps Salmon River East; Matheny Ridge; Kloochman Rock; Finley Creek Agencies Olympic National Park and Olympic National Forest The boundary between the national park and the national forest follows Sams River from its confluence with the Queets River to a point about 5 miles upstream. The boundary then leaves the river and extends along the crest of Sams Ridge between Sams River and Tshletshy Creek. Once a good trout fishing stream, the Sams has been badly damaged by silt because extensive logging and a forest fire in the Olympic National Forest have disturbed the land. The Sams River Trail alternately traverses national park and national forest lands as it crosses back and forth from one side of the river to the other. Consequently, neither agency desires to undertake its maintenance, nor it has become more or less an orphan, abandoned and suffering from neglect. No work has been done on it for several decades, and the path is virtually nonexistent today in many places. This is especially true in rain forest glades and where logging has obliterated the path. However, several remaining fragments of the trail are in fair condition. The beginning of the trail, at the end of the Queets River Road (290 ft/88 m), coincides with part of the Queets Campground Loop Trail. This section goes through luxuriant rain forest, and then comes out onto the banks of Sams River, where one can see Kloochman Rock across the Queets. The trail then forks (0.3 mi/0.5 km; 300 ft/92 m), but the division point is not marked. The obvious path leading right is a continuation of the loop trail; the Sams River Trail goes left, but it is very faint— in fact, easily overlooked. Bushes and the limbs of young trees encroach on both sides and obscure the ground. Keeping close to Sams River, the route goes first on one side of the stream, then the other, to take advantage of the alder bottoms and glades. Here the trail has largely disappeared, but the observant hiker will see a cut log now and then. Because the bits of path lack continuity, it is easier to ignore them and strike out cross country as far as the mouth of the First Canyon (3.0 mi/4.8 km; 500 ft/152 m). At this point the trail crosses to the river's north side, which is in the national park. The canyon itself, which is about a mile long, is not negotiable except during low water because the swift, rushing stream extends to the rock walls on either side. Within the gorge, just above its mouth, anglers will find a deep, beautiful pool where steelhead can sometimes be observed lurking in the shadows. The trail makes a gradual, ascending traverse above the canyon. Were it not for the occasional cut logs, and a switchback or two, one would not suspect that the path was man-made, because the route is blocked by countless windfalls, rotten logs, and thick brush. Nevertheless, it penetrates a magnificent stand of giant Douglas-firs, great trees that make an indelible imprint upon the mind. Near the head of the canyon the national park boundary leaves the river. At this point (4.5 mi/7.2 km; 650 ft/198 m) the trail goes back into the national forest and does not again enter the national park. Here it meanders across beautiful rain forest glades, and one can look across the Sams and note that the timber has been logged right down to the stream's banks, a forestry practice that is frowned upon today. (On the river's south side, opposite the trail and somewhat downstream, the hiker will find an elk hunters' camp near the remains of a trapper's cabin. The hunters once had a cable-and-bucket spanning the Sams at this point, which they used to transport elk killed illegally in the national park, north of the river. A good trail leads steeply down to the camp from a logging road about a third of a mile distant to the south.) On the river's north bank, Camp Phillips occupies the site of the old Sams River Shelter (5.0 mi/8.0 km; 600 ft/183 m). At one time a makeshift structure— probably fashioned from the remnants of the shelter—was located here beneath a leaning cedar tree, but nothing remains today. Beyond this camp the trail approaches a steep slide and waterfall, and in order to avoid the barrier the path crosses to the river's south bank, where it remains, briefly, until it approaches the mouth of the Second Canyon. Here it returns to the river's north side and continues to alder bottoms above the Second Canyon, then crosses again to the river's south bank and follows that side. The trail then intersects FS Road 2422-500, which bridges the river just above the Third Canyon (8.0 mi/12.9 km; 900 ft/274 m). Beyond the road the trail has been obliterated for about 2 miles by fire, which occurred in conjunction with logging. Near the far end of the burned area, the route again crosses to the river's north bank (which now is in the national forest). The new Sams River Shelter that stood here (10.0 mi/16.1 km; 1000 ft/305 m) was destroyed by the fire. At the lower end of the Fourth Canyon, about a half-mile beyond this site, the trail leaves the logged and burned area and enters the virgin forest. Here the path parallels the north bank of the Sams. The box canyon extends approximately a mile, and at its head a 20-foot waterfall drops vertically. The trail then ends abruptly on the side of a bank (ca. 12.0 mi/19.3 km; 1400 ft/427 m) near the national park boundary. The original plan called for extending the trail to a junction with the old Finley Peak Trail, another 3 or 4 miles, intersecting with that route near Lilly Lake. The huge pool at the base of the waterfall cannot be reached by going up the canyon. One must climb out of the gorge, traverse upriver several hundred feet, and then descend the steep wall while clinging to a rope tied to a tree. The falls are a barrier to the upward migration of fish, and at times the pool contains large numbers of them.