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Copyright © Craig Romano/The Mountaineers Books Chiwaukum Creek
Hike along a raucous waterway into a quiet corner of the Alpine Lakes Wilderness. Amble aimlessly through groves of cedar, cottonwood, and towering ponderosa pines resembling pillars holding up the sky. Always within sight and sound of the crashing creek, you will find no dearth of great lounging-away-the-afternoon spots along the Chiwaukum.
From the trailhead kiosk, begin your walk by heading for a gated road that traverses private property. Hikers and horseback riders are allowed to walk this road to reach the actual trailhead. Hugging the creek in deep timber and passing just a couple of structures, the road walk is actually quite pleasant. At 1.25 miles reach true trail (elev. 2000 ft), and after another 0.25 mile enter the Alpine Lakes Wilderness. Traveling at first on a bench above the chattering (and in spring, roaring) Chiwaukum Creek, the trail soon comes down to creek level, where the water has tried to level the trail! Then it's back to higher ground. In spring and early summer the trail is lined with blooming calypso orchids, groundsel, trilliums, paintbrush, and the fun-to-say ballhead waterleaf. Look too for Tweedy's lewisia, a showy, somewhat rare blossom. At 2.5 miles pass a nice creekside campsite (perfectly suitable for lunchtime napping as well) in a grove of western white pines. Farther upriver the trail meanders through pleasant flats of ponderosa pines, occasionally passing by a gargantuan specimen. At 4.5 miles enter a forested area lacking old-growth giants, rife instead with cherry and aspen, species indicative of disturbance. Part of a private inholding (legacy of the railroad grants), the ancient pine forest here was "disturbed" by chain saws in the 1980s. Public outcry and protests from guidebook pioneers Harvey Manning and Ira Spring couldn't stop it. The parcel was eventually added to the Alpine Wilderness, but with substantially less board footage. Reenter mature forest and, with the creek crashing beneath a formidable wall of rock, begin a short and steep climb of about 400 feet in 0.5 mile. Round a small knoll, and then descend slightly under a cool canopy of cedars to a precarious log crossing of Chiwaukum Creek (elev. 3300 ft). Here, 6 miles from your vehicle, is a good place to call it quits. Enjoy the creek chatter and the quiet of the surrounding wilderness.
Driving Directions:
From Everett head east on US 2 for 85 miles to Coles Corner. Continue east on US 2 for 4.8 miles, turning right on Chiwaukum Creek Road (the turnoff is 0.75 mile before Tumwater Campground between mileposts 89 and 90). (From Leavenworth follow US 2 west for 10 miles to the turnoff.) Follow Chiwaukum Creek Road for 0.2 mile to the trailhead (elev. 1850 ft). Privy available. Recent Trip Reports
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Chiwaukum Creek
— Jun 01, 2013
— BubbleGumPrincess
Overnight
Features:
Wildflowers blooming
Issues:
Blowdowns | Overgrown | Mudholes | Bugs
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Wild flowers were beautiful! We go there early and didn't see another soul on the trail until later ...
Wild flowers were beautiful! We go there early and didn't see another soul on the trail until later in the evening after we had made camp.
I am a newby (and not it the best of shape) and this was a little tough for me, but it was worth it. I was terrified crossing the log where the trail crosses creek, but I got it done. I was rewarded with a really pretty campsite right near the creek with a little mini waterfall. After we made camp we continued up the trail, but at one point the trial itself was turning into a little stream so we headed back to camp and called it a day. The only bad part was that both my friend Lumpy Space Hiker and I got tick bites. So be sure to check head to toe for the nasty little things! Multi-night backpack
Features:
Wildflowers blooming
Issues:
Blowdowns | Bridge out | Clogged drainage | Overgrown | Water on trail | Snow on trail
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I did a two night backpacking trip with a couple buddies. The first six miles of the trail is in re...
I did a two night backpacking trip with a couple buddies. The first six miles of the trail is in relatively good condition with blow down that is easily passable. If you choose to go past the first fork at six miles, the trail conditions degrade rapidly. There is more blow down that is harder to pass, but manageable. At points you have to leave the trail and travel parallel for a bit.
We made base camp just before the second fork at 7.6 miles in. Word of caution the log bridge is out just before the campsite and the second fork. We traveled 300 yards up stream to find a fallen tree suitable for crossing with packs. On the second day we hiked up to Chiwaukum Lake, the trail is overgrown, and although we stayed on the trail is was like bush waking. At just over 5,000 ft the ground is covered with snow making route finding difficult. We were able to follow the trail with a little effort. For hikers - A Northwest Forest Pass is required for parking at the trail head. Dogs are allowed. For backpackers - There is plenty of water access along the creek. Camp fires are allowed below 5,000, but no closer than a 1/2 mile to the lake. There are trees if you choose to hammock camp. Day hike
Features:
Wildflowers blooming
Issues:
Blowdowns | Overgrown
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Got dropped of at Hwy 2 around 11am. The trailhead was just past a large road construction site; saw...
Got dropped of at Hwy 2 around 11am. The trailhead was just past a large road construction site; saw only one car parked there.
Followed the trail a bit over 5 miles in, to a big log crossing. Had lunch there and turned back. The trail was in good condition, apart from a few blowdowns, occasional shrubs growing over the trail, and a few small patches of snow. Wildflowers: Some Balsamroot near the bottom, then lots of Trillium and Glacier Lilies. Photos: http://picasaweb.google.com/eric.jain/ChiwaukumCreekMay2013 Tracklog: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/308166314 Day hike
Features:
Wildflowers blooming
Issues:
Blowdowns
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Chiwaukum Creek has always been a go-to hike for May since it is usually snow free, being lower and ...
Chiwaukum Creek has always been a go-to hike for May since it is usually snow free, being lower and further east of the trails closer to the crest, but the access to the trail head has been closed due to road construction. The access was open last weekend, though, so we went. We did not get too far up the creek, but another hiker reported that trail was reasonably clear of blowdowns up to the creek crossing at 5.5 miles, and what blowdowns there were could be bypassed or crawled under. The wildflowers are coming, with balsam root out, calypso lily out, but the Tweedy's Lewisia, the main draw on the trail, is just barely budding out.
Day hike
Issues:
Blowdowns | Water on trail | Snow on trail
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Under mostly cloudy skies we were the only ones on this trail today. The first 1.5 miles is along a ...
Under mostly cloudy skies we were the only ones on this trail today. The first 1.5 miles is along a road that grants access to the few private home owners in the area but with the creek roaring along the side, it's not that bad. The trail never strays too far from the creek. The further in we ventured, the more patches of soft snow we ran into. That made for slow going so we picked a lunch spot about 3.5 miles in, had our lunch and returned. Didn't see a single soul on the trail today which was a nice break from the crowded Seattle area hikes we've done recently.
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![]() Chiwaukum Creek Trail. Photo by Perry.
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