Information about this hike provided in partnership with
Mountaineers Books.
Copyright © Craig Romano/The Mountaineers Books Cow Heaven
Featured In:
Day Hiking: North Cascades,
by Craig Romano.
A portion of all book sales from the links above benefits WTA and helps protect and maintain our trails. Trail No. 763 starts low, but aims high. From its valley-bottom beginning to its alpine destination, 4000 feet of elevation is gained-in less than 5 miles. These stats keep more than a handful of aerobically challenged hikers away. But despite this trail's lonely state, it's in fine shape. The tread is fairly smooth and the way is well defined. Begin in cool cedar forest on new trail rerouted around private land. Soon after crossing a creek in a mossy grotto, the trail gets down to business. Following tight switchbacks, the way vigorously climbs up a near-vertical slope. The forest canopy is dense, mostly a uniform stand of second-growth conifers. A handful of vine maples punctuate it, lightening the dark understory during the autumn months. After 1 mile recross the creek you hopped over earlier. Now in scrappy forest and alongside the cascading creek, continue climbing. Cross the creek yet again. The forest soon thins, offering glimpses to the jumbled array of peaks across the Skagit Valley. Just after 2 miles the trail briefly drops to traverse a dank mossy hollow supporting a handful of mammoth cedars, and then the trail picks up the pace again. Lighter tread and a few gullied sections help keep your pace in check. After passing a series of boulders and overhanging ledges, the trail enters a grove of impressive old growth. Eventually the forest thins, yellow cedars and subalpine firs indicating that much elevation has thus far been gained. After 4 miles and at about 4000 feet, finally break out of the canopy. Views begin to unravel across huckleberry-choked slopes that were scorched many decades ago by wildfire. Continue across the brushy terrain, coming to a small meadow with a small tarn. For better panoramic viewing, find a faint path heading northwest up an open rib. Here in the heart of Cow Heaven, steak your viewing spot! The deep U-shaped Skagit Valley unfurls below you. Craggy Colonial Peak and the Teebone Ridge (seriously) tower above it. Jack is the big guy on the western horizon. The Newhalem powerhouse is the big structure below. Turn south to take in a sweeping view of the Cascade River valley. Snowking Mountain, the Illabot Peaks, Whitehorse Mountain, and the Finney Block area fill the southern horizon. The Helen Buttes obstruct views northward and eastward. But if your scrambling and orientation skills are good, continue toward the buttes, where you can graze on more mouthwatering views. Contemplate, too, just how tenacious those cows must have been to hoof it all the way to this lonely and heavenly range.
Driving Directions:
From Rockport follow the North Cascades Highway (State Route 20) 8 miles east toward Marblemount. Shortly before reaching town, turn left onto Ranger Station Road (signed "Ranger Station, one mile"). Proceed 0.7 mile to the national park ranger station, and then bear right onto Olson Creek Road, continuing for another 0.3 mile to the trailhead, on your left (elev. 400 ft). Recent Trip Reports
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21
trip reports for this hike.
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Cow Heaven
— Jul 30, 2011
— born2run74
Day hike
Features:
Ripe berries
Issues:
Blowdowns | Overgrown
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Me and my dog were the only ones on this trail the whole day (a sunny crystal clear day). ...
Me and my dog were the only ones on this trail the whole day (a sunny crystal clear day). Probably the reason why no one does it is because there's no views until 4 miles, and you have to start from the valley floor. That said, beautiful waterfalls at multiple locations, nice grade, and solitude make this a good hike. It is a tough one with big-time elevation gain...Snow started about 1/2 mile before the meadows, but was spotty. Impossible to find a trail to the buttes above the meadows, so had to do some scrambling to get to the "first overlook" where I stopped and called it quits. Blowdowns are easy to overcome, but the meadows part of the trail is overgrown. Ripe red huckleberries throughout the first 1/2 mile!
Cow Heaven
— Jul 04, 2011
— JustTheFacts
Day hike
Issues:
Blowdowns | Snow on trail | Bugs
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Trail is in good condition. Perhaps a dozen blow downs, easily passed on foot. Mosquitoes made their presence...
Trail is in good condition. Perhaps a dozen blow downs, easily passed on foot. Mosquitoes made their presence known around elevation 2,500 feet and reached the level of annoyance around elevation 3,000. Encountered first snow at elevation 3,600. By elevation 3,700 (still in woods), snow became regularly 5 feet deep. Snow firm and easy to traverse. Regular orange and pink flagging on tree branches made it easy to follow the trail despite its usual lack of visibility. Deep snow above 4,000 feet but no need to follow the trail after this point as one could meander through more open country. Great views to south and east above this elevation. Upon descending, encountered fresh footprints crossing our upward trail in the snow at 4,100 feet -- footprints made by bear with 5" wide paws. Claw impressions still clear in soft snow. Saw no people and no cows on the hike.
Day hike
Issues:
Blowdowns | Snow on trail | Bugs
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with photos
Before I start writing my report, I would like to remind everyone to bring insect repellent. Believe me, you will...
Before I start writing my report, I would like to remind everyone to bring insect repellent. Believe me, you will need it! Luckily I had packed some, otherwise it would have been an extremely miserable hike.
With that said, it was a perfect day for a hike like this. It's a long drive to Marblemount from Seattle, so I didn't anticipate seeing too many people (or anyone for that matter) on the trail. The trailhead was about one mile north after getting off highway 20, with a visible trail sign so one can't miss it. There were not other vehicles in the parking lot so the dog and I got to have the trail all to ourselves. A flyer posted on the trailhead sign warning about bears, so I had the dog leashed for a good three miles before I let him loose. Parts of the trail weren't completely visible due to the occasional blowdowns, and it required a little bit of guessing to make sure we were headed in the right direction. Although it wasn't too bad, just needed a little common sense and intuition to guide us through. Snow patches started to appear at around 4,000 feet elevation, and it continued for about half mile before the whole meadow was buried in snow. Needless to say, the tarn I was hoping to see was right underneath us in the snow. Once we crossed the meadow and began to scramble up to the viewing ridge, the snow started to dissipate. But there was more snow beyond the viewing ridge leading up to Helen's Buttes. Since I was pressing for time, I made the viewing ridge my final stop. The northwest view was obstructed by the buttes, but the rest of the view was spectacular nonetheless. I only saw two people on my way down the mountain, right about where the snow patches started to appear. They were definitely not dressed for the occasion, not sure if tennis shoes would have gotten them over the field of snow and up to the viewing ridge. I spared some of my insect repellent because it was pretty obviously that needed some help to dodge the slew of mosquitoes. Great hike! Flickr photos - http://bit.ly/aY2CRW Day hike
Issues:
Blowdowns | Clogged drainage | Washouts | Water on trail | Snow on trail
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Headed off onto Highway 20 looking for snow shoeing. Photo in local paper shows Rockport with snow at the state...
Headed off onto Highway 20 looking for snow shoeing. Photo in local paper shows Rockport with snow at the state park -- got there and none, with 39F, so kept driving since I know that I will hit snow on Highway 20. At Marblemount, the entrance to the American Alps, the temperature dipped to 31F and I pulled into The Eatery (best food in the area) to decide where to go over a Latte and goodies.. Cow Heaven looked ideal, 1 mile down the road with a 4900' elevation gain and the trail book reported excellent trail conditions..
First thing to remember is to check the trail overall grade ... 20%, 1 mile in height in 5 miles of hikes... The way to heaven looks like it will be steep and narrow! The trail was lovely because for the first 2.5 miles it hugged Olsen Creek so you had continuous waterfalls and shoots to enjoy while your muscles register complaints in triplicate. All of the creek crossing were wet -- you needed waterproof boots if you wish to keep feet dry. The rocks, roots and branches were all slippery and with them being often on a 25% grade, beware of tumbles. Just past mile post 2, the trail had a variety of short blank outs due to branches on the trail or creeks that were formerly known as trails. At around 3.5 miles, the trail turned into a raging deep creek and I was unable to find where it left the creek for some distance, snow patches were now in the area so it was going bushwhacking or heading back. Since it is short Winter days, I opted to turn back passing a local couple (in 60's?) that does this hike at least 3 times a week... Good workout to recover from Christmas calories.
Cow Heaven
— Jul 05, 2009
— arniez
Day hike
Issues:
Blowdowns | Overgrown | Bugs
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On a very hot day this was a tiring hike of 10 miles and 4200' elevation gain per my GPS....
On a very hot day this was a tiring hike of 10 miles and 4200' elevation gain per my GPS. Climbed to 4600' (per GPS) for great views. Lower part beautiful with moss-covered waterfalls and cool rushing winds.
Approximately 15 trees were down on the trail but navigating around them was not too difficult. Above about 3000' the mosquitos attacked without mercy. Net clothing or repellent was a necessity. |
Cow Heaven. Photo by whitebark.
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