Ape Gave

Oh Ape Cave. I've been here so many times, but I still want to go back every couple years. There's nothing wrong with that, I say. I think it's the challenge, which makes me think that doing something more challenging might be a good thing. Maybe it's time to try climbing a small mountain (maybe nearby Mt. St. Helens) or . . . I can't think of anything else that's challenging that I'd be willing to do. I'll think about it.

Today was wet. Very wet. I'm no cave-ologist, but it seems that the wetter it is outside, the wetter it is inside. It would make sense, that water has to soak into something. It wasn't wet throughout the cave, though, mostly just near the entrances and other close to the surface areas. The parking lot was about 2/3 full when we got there and overflowing when we left, but it never seemed packed in the cave. It seemed busier than other times I've been there (keep in mind that it's essentially the same temperature in the cave year round, so you could certainly do it in the middle of winter if you can get your car through the snow.), but it never was annoyingly busy. This was especially true in the upper half of the cave. Crowds seem to naturally spread out throughout the cave, and given that this one is one of the longer ones out there, it's not hard for this to happen.

The lower cave is mandatory for one of my visits. There's nothing special about it, but I have a feeling I'd feel like I just didn't do it justice if I didn't do the whole thing. It's a relatively simple walk out and back. It is made more difficult by small amounts of rock scrambling and a very uneven floor, but once you do the upper cave, you won't think the lower was a challenge at all. I call them the upper and lower cave, but really it's just up from the middle entrance and down from the middle entrance as it's all one big cave with a hole in the middle. The upper cave is certainly more challenging. It requires climbing over large rock falls, squeezing through tight spaces, crouching low to get through, watching your head in a few spots and the ever-ominous "6 foot rock wall". I do believe, however, that the rock wall had a new foot hole added to it this time that wasn't there before. Over time, it's seemed like the wall was getting smoother and smoother from so many people climbing up it trying to grab on to whatever they could (and likely breaking off some of what they grabbed). While I prefer that things remain natural, I don't think this seemingly new addition is out of line. It was getting nearly impossible and certainly . . . as I said . . . ominous. There was a line at the wall this time of backed up people trying to figure out how they'd get up, but it is nothing but entertaining watching them try. I was a little nervous as always, but glad I didn't let it conquer me as once I got to the top, I saw 10-12 year old girls that had made the same climb. If they can do it, I can do it, right? I'm certainly not THAT old yet!

If you have no problem hiking more difficult above ground trails, you should certainly visit the lower cave at least once. If you like a bit more of a challenge, give the upper cave a try. It's certainly worth the wet, cold trip.

Here are the specifics:
Fee: Northwest Forest Pass required (National Parks pass accepted. I believe the current fee for a one day pass is $5)

Pets: Prohibited

Facilities: Restrooms at trailhead, picnicking, viewpoints nearby
Attractions: Cave, trail, native plants, views, Mt. St. Helens nearby (volcanic monument)
Round Trip Hike: 3 miles in cave (includes out and back for lower cave and through upper cave), 1 1/2 mile return trail
Hiking Difficulty (out of 5): 5

Camping: No

Season: Year round (I believe), check road conditions

Coordinates: 46.108086, -122.211877

Governmental Agency Land: US Forest Service - Mt. St. Helens National Volcanic Monument

Nearest town: Cougar, Washington (11 miles)

Nearest 10,000+ city: Vancouver, Washington (58 miles)

County: Skamania, Washington

My rating (out of 6): 5 for beauty, 3 for crowds, 5 for play availability, 5 for surroundings - 5 average

More Information: Ape Caves

My Current Location: Portland International Airport - Portland, OR

Cave Marker:Cave upper entrance/exit:
Meat ball:

Portland "4T"

Trail, tram, trolley and train. Really, it's not 4T, it's TATSCMAX. That's not as clever though, is it? In case you're wondering, that's Trail, Aerial Tram, Street Car, MAX. In our case, we started with MAX. I'm getting too picky here, aren't I?

Anyway, we started at the Galleria stop and got on MAX. We rode it to Washington Park and let the adventure begin! Gag. Anyway, up the elevator and we headed toward the zoo. The signs were easy to find (all saying "4T"). It heads down to Hwy 26 and over the freeway. The oddest part of the loop is probably that the trail head is halfway down the on ramp. Whatever works, I guess. As expected, the trail heads up up up to Council Crest. I knew it was going to be uphill since it claims to go to the highest point in Portland. Overall, not too hard of a hike. It was nice to have Council Crest at a little past midway in the hike, especially since it was a beautiful day. It was nice to have a break and look around the park.

The hike then went down to what I believe to be the Marquam Nature Park. I was hoping that it would be downhill all the way to OHSU, but it just went down to go back up. Again, not too bad though. Aside from a short part of the trail that went up to Council Crest, it was all on an actual train and stayed off the city streets. There is an "urban" option that would likely have been less up and down between Council Crest and OHSU, but this was probably more scenic.

The trail wasn't the highlight of the trip, however. The views were the highlight. The pictures posted below leave out most of the view from Council Crest because I plan on going up there on a perfectly clear nice day and taking pictures and posting about that park itself. The best views from this trip were probably from OHSU. There is a large deck with views of the city and mountains near the tram. It's a small park all on its own. The tram should have been the highlight, but it wasn't very exciting. It went down, we got off. The views from the tram weren't even any better than the views from the top. Maybe on a clear day they'd be better, but nothing spectacular.

From there, we took the streetcar back into down and got some food. All in all, a good way to start our monthly summer hikes.

Here are the specifics:
Fee: TriMet all zone pass - $2.30 currently. If you go around the loop clockwise instead of counter-clockwise, the fare becomes $8.30 (The tram is $4 going up, free going down. One TriMet all zone pass is $2.30 and lasts only two hours on the MAX, but all day on the streetcar.)

Pets: Prohibited

Facilities: Restrooms at certain locations, picnicking
Attractions: Trail, wildlife/bird watching, native plants, views
Round Trip Hike: 3.95 miles (one-way, but public transit covers loop back)
Hiking Difficulty (out of 5): 3

Camping: No

Season: Year round

Coordinates: 45.510623,-122.717328 - Brochure suggests starting at Washington Park, so that's what these coordinates are.

Governmental Agency Land: Metro, City of Portland, OHSU

Nearest town: Portland, Oregon (2.5 miles from downtown)

Nearest 10,000+ city: Portland, Oregon

County: Multnomah, Oregon

My rating (out of 6): 6 for beauty, 3 for crowds, 5 for play availability, 5 for surroundings - 5 average

More Information: Portland 4T

My Current Location: Home - Portland, Oregon

Trailhead on Highway 26:
Trees at Council Crest:
Trilliums on trail:
Aerial tram:
View from tram:

Bonnie Lure State Recreation Area

There's not going to be much to say about Bonnie Lure as there isn't much to it. After "touring" Oregon City, we headed out toward Estacada to try and find this state recreation area (it's not a state park and I'll explain why later). I didn't go with specific directions in hand, only the knowledge that it was out Highway 224, north of Estacada. I figured that it's a state park and they're always so well marked, why have good directions? Well, it's not a state park. It's an undeveloped state recreation area. After driving well past the turnoff and nearly hitting Estacada, we looked it up in the navigation. That brought us back down 224 where we turned off and drove right past the park in a loop that brought us back to Estacada. We looked it up on the state's website and drove back to where the navigation first told us. We drove by slowly this time and realized there was just a sign at the parking lot that would never stick out to you unless you knew it was there.

It may have been the slight frustration in getting there, it may have been the lack of contact with nature since way before tax season, but the creek was very serene. The water pushed up against the pillar of the bridge taking Dowty Road over Eagle Creek in a very . . . reassuring way. After reading what the Oregon State Park website had to say about this place (just now), I realized that we probably didn't see everything that Bonnie Lure had to offer. Even with this new knowledge, however, I feel pretty comfortable in saying that there isn't much to the recreation area but nature. It's a beautiful place to go fishing, sit by the creek or go on a short walk, but it's a recreation area and not a fully developed state park. If I were ever in the area again, I'd definitely want to stop by. It's pretty. It may be busy and unattractive on warm summer days (it just looks like one of those places), but on this nice but a bit drizzly of a spring day it was quite perfect.

Here are the specifics:
Fee: None

Pets: Allowed

Facilities: None
Attractions: Trail, wildlife/bird watching, native plants, fishing, swimming
Waterway: Eagle Creek & Clackamas River
Round Trip Hike: Roadside - unsure of trail length
Hiking Difficulty (out of 5): N/A

Camping: No

Season: Year round

Coordinates: 45.350722 -122.37655

Governmental Agency Land: Oregon State Parks & Recreation

Nearest town: Eagle Creek, Oregon (1.3 miles)

Nearest 10,000+ city: I'll probably have to give it to Damascus, Oregon on this one (8.6 miles - Damascus is just under 10,000 in 2009, but Sandy will be there eventually and is closer. Clackamas, Oregon City, Gladstone are all pretty equally distant)

County: Clackamas , Oregon

My rating (out of 6): 5 for beauty, 4 for crowds, 3 for play availability, 5 for surroundings - 4.5 average

More Information: Oregon State Parks - Bonnie Lure State Recreation Area

My Current Location: Home - Portland, Oregon

Art? on the bridge:
Eagle Creek:
Eagle Creek under the bridge:

Golden and Silver Falls State Park

Let's start with a few details on the "lovely" trip we had to Golden and Silver Falls State Park which may or may not have tainted the opinion I have of this wonderful place.

A. I was falling asleep on the drive up. I was driving. My cohorts in the great trek to the falls were very much asleep. There was no having someone else drive, I was the most awake.
B. It was hot. Very hot, especially when compared to where we were camping. As noted in my Sunset Bay State Park Campground post, there was a cold cloud that loved the campground. A few miles inland, it was warm and humid.
C. There were bugs. God were there bugs. The kind of bugs that love to land on people that are hot and sweaty from their walk to a waterfall in 85-90 degree weather. Oh, and bees.
D. We decided to climb up to the base (or close to) of Golden Falls. This was fine, except for B & C, above. The problem was trying to find a different way down. I decided to take a different route back to the trail than Tim and Jason. My route gave me a nice slide down the side of a rock that decided to keep my right foot at the top. I wasn't sure if I was going to be able to continue my trek back to the trail, but the pain subsided enough to get back and even take part of the walk up to Silver Falls.

There, with that said let us continue. I had no idea that I should expect a set of falls that were this tall. I was honestly quite surprised when we got to the first view of Golden Falls. The hike is relatively short. I can't find how far right now, but I would guess no more than 1 mile round trip. When you get to the end of the trail, you have a pretty good view of the falls. Anything closer will require rock climbing. The falls don't have the biggest volume, but it was the middle of July, so I'm sure it would be better any other time of the year.

You're not going to set up a picnic here unless you want to bring all your supplies up to the top of a large boulder. You can do this at the picnic tables right next to the gravel parking lot (yes, I'm saying this may not be so pleasant). This is a nice place, but it won't be a place to set up a day long visit.

I can't say much about Silver Falls since I was in pain and we only walked just far enough to get a distant view. Golden Falls tumbles over a cliff in horsetail fashion. Silver Falls goes over a large rock that if you can get under it you can walk behind. I don't know how to describe it well apparently. It's very possible that Silver Falls would have an amazing base that you'd want to spend hours at. The falls aren't as impressive though, since there is barely a trickle going over them. Again, a different season and they may be amazing.

One interesting historical note - the trail to Silver Falls is an old road that has a small informational plaque about the road that drove right over the top of two falls. I found it interesting, maybe I'm the only one. Overall, if you have a couple extra hours and are in the area, I'd recommend it. Just don't pick a hot day.

Here are the specifics:

Fee: None

Pets: Allowed, as far as I know

Facilities: Vault toilets, picnic tables, no water
Attractions: Trails, viewpoints, old-growth forest
Waterway: Golden Falls - Glenn Creek; Silver Falls - Silver Creek
Waterfall Type: Golden Falls - Horsetail; Silver Falls - Segmented
Round Trip Hike: About 6/10 mile for each hike
Hiking Difficulty (out of 5): 1

Camping: No

Season: Year round, pick the best time that will combine decent weather with good flows over the falls

Coordinates: Golden Falls - 43.485278 -123.926667 (Unverified, these are the coordinates I have, but I can't find the exact point on Google Maps); Silver Falls - 43.488611 -123.933333

Governmental Agency Land: Oregon State Parks & Recreation

Nearest town: Allegany, Oregon (10.5 miles)

Nearest 10,000+ city: Coos Bay, Oregon (25.4 miles)

County: Coos County, Oregon

My rating (out of 6): 3 for beauty, 4 for crowds, 4 for play availability, 3 for surroundings - 3.5 average

More Information: Oregon State Parks - Golden and Silver Falls

My Current Location: Home - Portland, Oregon

Silver Falls:

Golden Falls:

Cape Arago Lighthouse

Occasionally, I may post on something I know very little about. I may post information I get from the internet, but I'll make it clear when I do. Other times I may just post very little about it and not do any other research. I have two goals. The first is to see and do everything. That won't happen, but it's fun to try right? The second is to have the most complete information possible collected on what I have visited.

This post is going toward my first goal. I mentioned the Cape Arago Lighthouse in a post or two before this, so it wouldn't normally warrant its own post. Lighthouses are one of the "would love to find and see them all" things in the world for me. Waterfalls, covered bridges, counties, national parks, state parks, all lists I have to complete.

The reason the Cape Arago Lighthouse doesn't get much of a post is that you can't go there. This is the only private lighthouse on the Oregon Coast (per the "Lighthouses of the Oregon Coast" brochure I picked up from the lovely information kiosk at Sunset Bay Campground). You can, however, get some pretty good views from the road between Sunset Bay and Shore Acres, and of course from the trail between the two that is right on the ocean. I would guess, but can't be sure, that if you were adventurous enough you could get out to the spit and island that show on the pictures below. One theory I have on this is to find a way to the top of the mini-cape (what's the technical term here?) to the north side of Sunset Bay and then work your way down. My other theory would be to climb out to the north side of the bay (described in the day use area post) and keep going. I was pretty confident in my abilities to do this option, but not confident enough to be able to get back. One of my life goals is to never need a Coast Guard helicopter to come rescue me. Anyway, I of course recommend that you do neither of these. That would be dangerous. Looking at a map, it looks like you may be able to walk from Bastendorf Beach County Park (located just north of Sunset Bay and clearly signed) south down the beach around an outcropping to more beach and a good view of the lighthouse, but again I have no idea.

Here are the specifics:

Fee: No fee (because you can't go there!)

Pets: At the viewpoint, yes

Facilities: None at viewpoint, available in nearby Shore Acres or Sunset Bay State Parks
Attractions: Lighthouse

Camping: Available nearby in Shore Acres State Park

Season: Year round

Coordinates: 43.34129,-124.37538 (Unverified), 43.32929,-124.38088 for the viewpoint (Unverified)

Governmental Agency Land: US Coast Guard (closed to public), Viewpoint - Oregon State Parks & Recreation

Nearest town: Charleston, Oregon (2.6 miles)

Nearest 10,000+ city: Coos Bay, Oregon (7.8 miles)

County: Coos County, Oregon

My rating (out of 6): 2 (It's hard to rate, but it has to have a low rating due to the inaccessibility)

More Information: There are a number of websites with information about this lighthouse. Do a search on Google for "Cape Arago Lighthouse" and you should find plenty.

My Current Location: Home - Portland, Oregon

Cape Arago State Park

It's time for a short post.

Pretty. Visit. Not to be missed.

We spent maybe 20 minutes here, what do you want from me?

We walked out to the point on the north side of the park, where there is a trail down to the beach (a steep trail, supposedly to tide pools). We walked to the south side of the park where there is a built up viewpoint of more beautiful Oregon Coast. The Oregon Coast trail (described in the Sunset Bay and Shore Acres posts) runs through this park.

I don't quite get the reason behind making this a separate park. These three state parks may be the most concentrated Oregon State Parks in the entire state. Three parks, 3 miles of road.

Oh, we saw a vulture, too. This was probably the highlight.

Again, it's worth the visit, but unless I missed something, there isn't much more than a couple viewpoints.

Here are the specifics:

Fee: No fee

Pets: Welcome on leash

Facilities: Flush toilets, picnic tables
Attractions: Trails, ocean views and access, wildlife viewing

Camping: No, but available nearby in Shore Acres State Park

Season: Year round

Coordinates: 43.306782, -124.397894 (Unverified)

Governmental Agency Land: Oregon State Parks & Recreation

Nearest town: Charleston, Oregon (5.8 miles)

Nearest 10,000+ city: Coos Bay, Oregon (10.9 miles)

County: Coos County, Oregon

My rating (out of 6): 3.5

More Information: Oregon State Parks - Cape Arago

My Current Location: Home - Portland, Oregon

Shore Acres State Park

I'm generally no fan of paying money to go see a garden. For that matter, I'm not usually a fan of spending time to go see a garden. I'm usually somewhere between underwhelmed and bored out of my mind. Maybe this is just a false preconception I have had or it may be true, but this certainly does not hold true for Shore Acres. Oh by the way . . . there are some of the most picturesque ocean vistas on the Oregon Coast right here in the park as well. Bonus!

Shore Acres State Park is a day use area just south of Sunset Bay State Park (see posts) and just north of Cape Arago State park (see post yet to come). As I'm posting this, I'm going through the state's park website and realizing that I'm a little embarrassed how few state parks (and waysides, recreation areas, etc.) I haven't been to. I know this is a side note, but for someone trying to get to every county in the United States, it seems I would do a little more exploration in my own state. Oh well, add another list of things I need to do.

Back to the point at hand. We first entered Shore Acres by trail from the Sunset Bay day use area. I highly recommend taking this trail. It follows the road (roughly) from Sunset Bay to Shore Acres, but does it much closer to the coastline. Normally I wouldn't take a trail that goes somewhere I can go by car. This isn't because I'm lazy, but because I know there are so many trails out there that I will never have enough time to take that go somewhere I can't get by car. I had a very pleasant shift in my outlook on this theory when I realized all the things I miss. We took the trail up to Shore Acres and walked the road (mostly) back. In doing so, I realized how much would have been missed if we had driven to the park. We saw stunning ocean vistas (this trip has been plagued with these), we saw wildlife that I don't see everyday from my condo window (there usually aren't elephant seals on the Stadium Freeway), we saw a trail that had decided it would rather be on the ocean floor than on the cliff we were walking (thank you to the nice people at the Oregon State Parks that moved the trail so that we didn't fall right off), we saw crazy natives (wait, that was Jason and Tim being weird . . . disregard this one). The pictures I took would take up all the room I have left in storage for this blog.

The trail will be steep and moderately difficult for a short time as it climbs up the cliff out of Sunset Bay. Don't let this discourage you. The trail is pleasant and all but easy the rest of the way into Shore Acres. You won't notice that you've walked for two miles because you stop every two minutes to take in the view or even extend your trip with one of the many side trails leading to something more than worth it. This trail is just a small portion of the Oregon Coast Trail leading from (correct me if I'm wrong) the Washington to the California border. It definitely makes me want to hike more of this trail, maybe even building up to a hike of the entire trail. That will never happen . . .

I started by mentioning gardens, didn't I? Well, on this visit to the park, we had a dog with us (it wasn't me, it was one of my friends) and dogs are not welcome in Shore Acres park outside of the parking lot. Since we were breaking the law enough already, we didn't really feel going into the gardens was something we were going to get away with. I hate going against rules as it is and wanted out the park quickly even though I was enjoying the area as much as I was. I do find it incredibly annoying that a portion of the Oregon Coast Trail does not allow dogs on it. I don't know if there is any kind of exception for those travelling through the park and not stopping (I have a feeling you would be required to walk the road instead), but it seems like someone may want to walk the whole trail with their dog. Don't allow dogs in the garden, fine. I more than understand that, but on the trail? No no. Bad.

So, as I mentioned, we didn't go to the gardens on this trip (although we did walk right past the gate to get a picture of all of us on the . . . what was it Temple? The "crazy" tree?). If you do enter the park via this trail, I would recommend taking the trail that is near the entrance of the parking lot back. This will cut a lot of time off your trek back. Of course I would also recommend making the whole loop up to Cape Arago State Park and back (although I did not do this, I can't imagine it not being worth it). End of visit number one to Shore Acres.

Begin visit number two. We decided to drive up to the park and further to Cape Arago the next day. Again, well worth it. We spent a decent amount of time in the gardens. The entire park was purchased by the state for $29,000 from the Simpson family (of Simpson Lumber fame) in 1942. The park was briefly used as a lookout during World War II. Evidence of this exists on the "Pack Trail". Although we did not go on this trail, there is a concrete bunker that still exists from when the area was used for this purpose. The estate was a residence, which is still evident. The concrete foundation of what used to be tennis courts on the bluff overlooking the ocean still exists along the trail up to the park. I can't say I know much about the history of the gardens, since the interpretive center was closed, but I do believe they are a hold over (on some level) from when it was the Simpson estate. The gardens include oriental and rose gardens as well as a gazebo which clearly accomodates special events such as weddings. The gardens are quite large (seven acres). We were there on a late Sunday afternoon and had the gardens almost to ourselves aside from a couple other visitors and a caretaker carefully tending to the flowers and other plant life. During the Christmas season, the gardens are decorated with more than 250,000 lights. I'm sure it is quite busy during this time, but I still intend to make a point of visiting to see the lights.

Here are the specifics:

Fee: $3 per vehicle, waived if you have a current valid camping pass

Pets: Allowed only in vehicles

Facilities: Flush toilets, picnic tables, areas for group events (weddings, etc.), viewing shelter, gift shop
Attractions: Trails, ocean views and access, interpretive center/information, wildlife viewing

Camping: No, but available nearby in Shore Acres State Park

Season: Year round, Thanksgiving through New Years for viewing lights

Coordinates: 43.3233, -124.3853 (Unverified)

Governmental Agency Land: Oregon State Parks & Recreation

Nearest town: Charleston, Oregon (4.1 miles)

Nearest 10,000+ city: Coos Bay, Oregon (9.2 miles)

County: Coos County, Oregon

My rating (out of 6): 5

More Information: Oregon State Parks - Shore Acres

My Current Location: Home - Portland, Oregon

Hurricane Ridge

This post is more to show a picture Tim took, since I actually really like it. Don't tell him, it's best that he continues to think that I don't like most things he does. It's just better that way, I promise.

I know there are a million pictures of flowers out there, but I like this one.

This is somewhat representative of the area, though. There were a number of wildflowers up near the Hurricane Ridge Visitor Center in Olympic National Park. The view is probably what attracts most people, though. Having a great view seems to be the general theme of the Olympic Peninsula. The steepness of the mountains protruding right from the surrounding lowlands and water seems to make for some great places to take a picture or two. The Olympics are certainly nothing in comparison to the Cascades . . . at least on paper. The tallest peak in Olympic National Park only reaches 7,980 feet, puny by comparison to Mt. Rainier at 14,441. The prominence (the height of the mountain over the surrounding area) of Mt. Olympus is 7,838 feet, compare this to the 7,706 foot prominence of Mt. Hood. This is what makes the mountains of the area just as impressive. They're tall compared to where you're standing. Unless, of course, if where you are standing is Hurricane Ridge. The elevation of Hurricane Ridge is approximately 5,200 feet. All of this means smaller glaciers and (I would think) less snow overall than the Cascades, but other than that it still seems impressive.

The view from Hurricane Ridge is interesting. When I've had a good view of the Olympics from the other side of the sound (either Whidbey Island or Seattle), they always looked tall and jagged. From Hurricane Ridge, you feel like you're looking right into a rugged but relatively flat landscape. Sure, the ridges are steep and quite the odd formation of land, but overall everything doesn't seem much higher or lower than where you are standing. Mt. Olympus is barely distinguishable from the other peaks in the range. None of this detracts from the overall beauty of the area, it just makes it unique. When you're up here, you feel like you're in a slightly different world. It's alpine, it's open, but it's still the Pacific Northwest. Even on a perfectly clear, warm day you can still tell that it rains. There are wildflowers and the green of a Washington forest. There was even still a pile of snow in the parking lot (on July 3rd), clearly from plowing, but still late in the year for 5,200 feet above sea level. Don't hold me to it, but I would guess that the ridge is poised at least partially in the rain shadow. The Hoh Rain Forest on the southwest side of the park gets around 12 feet of rain a year. I'm sure that number is a lot higher than Hurricane Ridge.

The point . . . what was the point? I don't remember. We didn't spend much time here because of the dog, but it was clear that there is a lot to do. Don't bring your dog and you'll be able to do one of the many hikes in the area. Next time though for us. For now, a few pictures is enough for me.

Here are the specifics:

Fee: $15 or a National Parks Pass

Pets: Pets are welcome in the parking lots, but not allowed on trails.

Facilities: Flush toilets and picnic tables available.

Camping: In the park, yes

Season: Year round, check for conditions out of summer

Coordinates: 47.969123, -123.498259 (Unverified) (Google shows a through road to Elwha, from what I've seen this is a trail and not a road - keep this in mind when looking up directions online)

Governmental Agency Land: Olympic National Park

Nearest town: Port Angeles, Washington (18 miles)

Nearest 10,000+ city: Silverdale, Washington (18 miles)

County: Clallam, Washington

My rating (out of 6): 3.5

More Information: Olympic National Park

Cites: Elevation information from Wikipedia

My Current Location: Work, Portland, Oregon

Mount Walker

After having about two days' worth of energy drained out of us in just one day from walking our crazy dog amongst other dogs out to Cape Flattery, we decided that a day of relative rest would be welcomed. For me, this means sitting in the car for hours. After going to Dungeness and eating at The 3 Crabs, we headed out to our only other main destination of the day - the Mount Walker Viewpoint.

Nothing is ever quick and easy when I'm involved. This may be obvious from the length of some of these posts, it may be obvious because you know me, or it may be news to you. In this case, I didn't realize quite how far the viewpoint was from Dungeness (where we ate lunch) nor did I realize that there would be few options for gas between the two points or anywhere close to Mt. Walker for that matter. We had more than a quarter tank, so I figured it wouldn't be a big deal. After 4 1/2 miles uphill (on a steep incline) with the four wheel drive and air conditioning on, the quarter tank quickly disappeared. Luckily this time it worked out fine (unlike the last July 4th weekend trip that included a couple hours on the side of I-5 just north of the Washington/Oregon border). Point of the story, make sure you have plenty of gas whenever you venture into the forest so that you can focus on things like the view at the top rather than whether or not you'll be able to make it to the next gas station.

The viewpoint from Mt. Walker would have been much more impressive had it not been for everything else we saw up to this point. It was still well worth the drive. The view is nearly 360 degrees between two separate viewpoints on the north and south sides of the mountain. Do the north side first and save the best for last. The north side looks toward the Strait of Juan de Fuca and the Olympic Peninsula. The south side has views of Mt. Rainier, the Puget Sound and even a pretty clear view of all of downtown Seattle. I don't have pictures to show this due to the clouds and (probably) smog, but it was there. I have a feeling the number of days with perfect conditions for seeing great views are very limited. This is the Pacific Northwest afterall. Even days that are beautiful typically have some haze.

The drive up is steep, gravel, washboarded and narrow. I wouldn't recommend it to anyone that doesn't feel comfortable driving in these conditions, although I would think any car with the right driver would be just fine. Just make sure you have gas. You could also park at the bottom and hike your way up (there is a trail off the road). I, for one, don't like walking when the car can take me there. I'd rather save my energy for walking when it will get me somewhere the car won't.

Here are the specifics:
Fee: None
Pets: Pets are welcome.
Facilities: Vault toilets and picnic tables available.
Camping: No
Season: Year round, but pick a sunny day for best views
Coordinates: 47.788435,-122.903398 (Unverified)
Governmental Agency Land: Olympic National Forest
Nearest town: Quilcene, Washington (9.6 miles)
Nearest 10,000+ city: Silverdale, Washington (49.7 miles)
County: Jefferson, Washington
My rating (out of 6): 4
More Information: Olympic National Forest

My Current Location: Home, Portland, Oregon

View to the south (Mt. Rainier & Seattle)


View to the north (Strait of Juan de Fuca, Olympic Peninsula)