Backpacking Trips on WTA-Improved Trails
Spending your backpacking trip climbing over fallen trees and fighting back brush is a drag. Luckily, WTA crews are coming to the rescue, clearing trails across Washington so you can enjoy smooth sailing on your next backpacking trip.
Our volunteer vacation and backcountry response teams head to the backcountry so they can spend their days fixing those trails that otherwise might not see maintenance. The following trails have been given the special treatment by volunteer crew, and make for great, early-summer backpacking adventures. As you hike, see if you can tell where our volunteers have leveled the tread, built steps or cut back brush.
Want to spend a few days or a week working for better trails in a beautiful backcountry place? Sign up for a volunteer vacation or backcountry response team to learn the ropes, and make a difference on trail.
Central Cascades
Entiat River Trail
Location: Entiat Mountains/Lake Chelan
Mileage: 14.7 miles, one-way
Elevation Gain: 2,320 feet
Wildfires cause a lot of damage to trails. Here, two volunteers saw out a log surrounded by a burned forest. Photo by Marla Martin.
The Entiat River Trail has seen extensive wildfire damage over the last couple decades, with the Tinpan fire in 2006 and the Wolverine Fire in 2015. As part of WTA’s Lost Trails Found campaign, volunteers have been working hard to clear the trail of dead snags that have fallen across the tread. This trail is a main access point to the Glacier Peak Wilderness and opens the door to many other trails in this area, including the Ice Creek Trail, which was also worked on by volunteers.
> Plan your trip using WTA’s Hiking Guide
Pacific Crest Trail - Deception Pass
Location: Stevens Pass - West
Mileage: 28.0 miles, roundtrip
Elevation Gain: 1,100 feet
A volunteer removes the bark from a fallen tree to avoid dulling his saw blade when he makes the cut. Photo by Gary Zink.
The Deception Pass Trail starts at Tucquala Meadows and follows the eastern shore of Hyas Lake to a major intersection in this trail network where hikers can choose between the PCT, Marmot Lake or the continuation on the Deception Creek Trail all the way to Highway 2. Volunteers cleared all fallen trees between Tucquala Meadows and Deception Pass as well as the trail to Tuck Lake. Hikers and horseback riders will appreciate not having to hop over and around so many logs.
> Plan your trip using WTA’s Hiking Guide
NOrth Fork Skykomish River
Location: Stevens Pass - West
Mileage: 10.0 miles, roundtrip
Elevation Gain: 1,000 feet
Volunteers clean up the trail from a fallen tree. Photo by Nate Schmidt.
The North Fork Skykomish Trail leads to the PCT and to the Henry M. Jackson Wilderness. It is an important link in this network, and thanks to annual maintenance done by volunteers, it is clear and ready for hikers. Crews brushed, improved drainage and repaired tread on the North Fork Skykomish Trail and Pass Creek Trail, so head out for the day or do a loop to see these improvements for yourself.
> Plan your trip using WTA’s Hiking Guide
Snoqualmie Region
Lemah Meadow
Location: Salmon La Sac/Teanaway
Mileage: 13.6 miles, one-way
Elevation Gain: 400 feet
This is the kind of obstacle that volunteer crews are equipped to clear off the trail. Photo by Bob Zimmerman.
Lemah Meadow lies along section J of the PCT north of Snoqualmie Pass. WTA volunteers out on a BCRT recently did some trail work in this area. They worked between Lemah Meadow and Spectacle Lake to improve the trail for hikers and horseback riders. Whether you’re doing a thru hike or on a backpacking trip in the area, be sure to check out this spruced up trail.
> Plan your trip using WTA’s Hiking Guide
Pratt River Trail to Pratt Lake
Location: North Bend Area
Mileage: 13.0 miles, roundtrip
Elevation Gain: 1,500 feet
Volunteers cleared this section of trail and improved the tread. Photo by Emily Snyder.
These latest BCRTS are part of a year’s long effort to improve access to trails in the Middle Fork Snoqualmie area. With the addition of a paved road and a bridge to the Pratt Connector Trail, the Pratt River valley has seen vast improvements. There was one thing missing, though: the connection between the Pratt River and Pratt Lake. The hard work of WTA volunteers is changing that by clearing brush and logs from this trail that has sat unmaintained for many years, making sure it doesn’t become a Lost Trail. Once this section is opened up, this route will link the Middle Fork Road with I-90 and all the trails in-between.
> Plan your trip using WTA’s Hiking Guide
Olympic Peninsula
Duckabush River
Location: Olympic Peninsula — Hood Canal
Mileage: 10.6 miles (or longer)
Elevation Gain: 2300 feet
Some really big trees had fallen across the Duckabush River Trail, but volunteer saw crews made quick work of these obstacles. Photo by Karen Bean.
Another adopted trail, WTA has been working on the Duckabush for nearly 10 years, repairing damage from a 2011 wildfire that ravaged the trail. Burned trees still fall each winter, so each spring, we return to remove those trees and repair the tread. That means hikers can amble through old-growth groves, which muffle the thundering waters of the Duckabush River, on their way to the deep backcountry and lush forests that define this part of the peninsula.
> Plan your trip using WTA's Hiking Guide
Lower south fork skokomish
Location: Olympia
Mileage: 8.5 miles, roundtrip
Elevation Gain: 800 feet
Three trail volunteers work on cutting a fallen tree out of the trail. Photo by Dawn Rorvik.
This trail offering access to the lush forest alongside the South Fork Skokomish River has received some TLC from WTA volunteers. The upper section between Camp Comfort and the Church Creek was logged out, brushed and the tread was repaired. Travel through this beautiful forest without these obstacles slowing you down.
> Plan your trip using WTA’s Hiking Guide
Bogachiel River
Location: Pacific Coast
Mileage: 12.0 miles, roundtrip
Elevation Gain: 400 feet
It's hard work clearing fallen trees, especially the big cedars that are found on the Olympic Peninsula. Photo by Rebecca Wanagel.
Crews have been hard at work clearing this rough trail that runs deep into Olympic National Park. The large volume of annual rainfall has led to erosion and brush encroachment over the years. Muddy conditions, fallen trees, and thick brush have contributed to the reputation that this is a rugged trail, but volunteers have been busy clearing the way. Head out for a visit to find solitude and trail improvements along the Bogachiel.
> Plan your trip using WTA’s Hiking Guide
South Cascades
Trapper Creek
Location: Lewis River Region
Mileage: 9.0 miles, roundtrip
Elevation Gain: 3,000 feet
Volunteers repair the tread along the Trapper Creek Trail. WTA Archive.
This trail is known for passing through one of the few remaining stands of old growth in southern Washington. Crews have been out clearing the way of brush and fallen logs as well as decommissioning an old bridge and building a new creek crossing. Go unimpeded beneath these big trees, and try the popular loop trail to Observation Peak and back.
> Plan your trip using WTA’s Hiking Guide
Rainier View Trail
Location: Chinook Pass-Highway 410
Mileage: 2.4 miles, roundtrip
Elevation Gain: 300 feet
After a wildfire, trees are weakened and all it takes is a windstorm to bring down a lot of deadfall on the trail. Photo by Owen Vogeli.
The Snoquera area is an important part of our Trails Rebooted campaign, and this trail is an important piece of the puzzle. With a recent volunteer presence this trail is free and clear of debris, brush and logs that were blocking the way. Now hikers can soak in the views of Mount Rainier without the distraction of navigating through obstacles. And if you’re looking for even more miles, link together several other trails to form a loop through these mountains.
> Plan your trip using WTA’s Hiking Guide
Eastern Washington
Salmo-Priest Loop
Location: Eastern Washington — Selkirk Range
Mileage: 19.0 miles, roundtrip
Elevation Gain: 3400 feet
Fallen trees slow hikers down and can snag a large pack. Photo by Crizzlethron.
Another adopted trail, the Salmo-Priest is hidden away in the corner of Washington between Idaho and Canada,; just about s as remote as it gets. Here you'll find old growth and wildflowers and views from Shedroof Divide out over the Selkirk Mountains. WTA crews have put years of work into keeping this trail logged out, so both people and horses can enjoy this gorgeous area.
> Plan your trip using WTA's Hiking Guide
Red Bluff
Location: Eastern Washington — Selkirk Range
Mileage: 9.0 miles, roundtrip
Elevation Gain: 220 feet
Walk over a puncheon created by WTA on the Red Bluff trail. Photo by Todd Dunfield.
A joint effort from WTA and the Pacific Northwest Trail Association made huge strides in improving this trail in the Colville National Forest. Crews have built puncheon bridges, improved tread, and of course, did plenty of brushing to make this trail more welcoming to hikers heading to the big views from Crowell Ridge.
> Plan your trip using WTA's Hiking Guide
North Cascades
Twisp Pass Trail
Location: Methow/Sawtooth
Mileage: 9.0 miles, roundtrip
Elevation Gain: 2,460 feet
Trail volunteers take a break to pose for a photo in the Sawtooth Wilderness. Photo by Jim Langdon.
This Twisp Pass Trail along with the North Lake Trail have been covered by logout crews on both a backcountry response team and a volunteer vacation. Each group spent multiple days cutting fallen logs off the trail, making the way much easier to travel. Explore this beautiful landscape that turns colorful in the fall, and see the freshly cut timbers that no longer block the way.
> Plan your trip using WTA’s Hiking Guide
South Fork Cascade River
Location: North Cascades Highway
Mileage: 9.0 miles, roundtrip
Elevation Gain: 1,800 feet
With few visitors and years between visits from maintenance crews, trails can start to disappear back into the landscape. WTA volunteers work hard to make sure that doesn't happen. Photo by CP.
WTA volunteers have been working on this trail for years, ever since the Mineral Park Fire of 2003 caused extensive damage. Slowly it’s been brought back on the map and continues to be improved and cleared through the hard work of devoted volunteers.
> Plan your trip using WTA’s Hiking Guide
Larch Creek
Location: Pasayten
Mileage: 32.4 miles, roundtrip
Elevation Gain: 3,300 feet
The damage caused by wildfires can leave trails in rough shape. That's why WTA volunteers often focus their efforts to reopen trails in burned landscapes. Photo by happy chappy.
The Pasayten Wilderness is one of the priority areas in our Lost Trails Found campaign. The Larch Creek Trail saw a lot of damage during the Diamond Creek fire of 2017, but volunteers have been working hard to remove dead snags that were blocking the trail and repair erosion caused by a lack of vegetation in the area. Check out this wilderness to see how the area is already rebounding and reopened thanks to the hard work of these saw crews.