Information about this hike provided in partnership with
Mountaineers Books.
Copyright © Craig Romano/The Mountaineers Books Dry Creek
Featured In:
Day Hiking: Olympic Peninsula,
by Craig Romano.
A portion of all book sales from the links above benefits WTA and helps protect and maintain our trails. The Dry Creek Trail was saved from obscurity a few years ago, thanks to the Washington Trails Association. Tenacious volunteers helped reopen this old trail in an area of the Olympic National Forest, long overlogged and underhiked. The trail traverses a low ridge through mostly second-growth forest. Nothing particularly grand or alluring here, just miles of lightly traveled terrain. Start by walking 0.3 mile down a private road lined with summer cabins. Once on real trail, begin a 1-mile trot along Lake Cushman. Enlarged in the 1920s when the City of Tacoma built a dam on it for power, hundreds of acres of prime old growth was cut and the area flooded. At 0.8 mile come to a good access point for exploring the stump-laced lakeshore. At 1 mile a small bluff offers a good vantage for viewing Mount Rose across the lake's reflective waters. Now, pulling away from the lake, start climbing. Soon you'll come to a spur trail heading left. It leads to a campsite on Dry Creek at its outlet into Cushman-a great lunch spot or turnaround point for those intent on enjoying more of the lake than the hike. The Dry Creek Trail now climbs steadily on an old road, creek in sound but not in sight. After about a mile of uphill grunting, the trail levels out under a canopy of alders. In midspring it's lined with thousands of trilliums, bleeding hearts, and violets. At 3 miles, with the roar of Dry Creek now quite loud, the trail finally comes upon it. The old footlog spanning it was wiped out years ago. Dry Creek, as you can see, is far from dry, and crossing it can be treacherous. Find yourself a good lunch rock and enjoy the torrent before turning around.
Driving Directions:
From Shelton travel north on US 101 for 15 miles to Hoodsport. Turn left (west) onto State Route 119, proceeding 9.3 miles to a T intersection with Forest Road 24. Make a sharp left. In 1.7 miles the pavement ends. Continue on a good gravel road (FR 24) and in 3.7 miles come to a junction. Turn left on FR 2451, crossing a causeway, and in 0.4 mile find the trailhead on your left. Recent Trip Reports
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Dry Creek
— Apr 22, 2011
— Weluv2hike.
Day hike
Issues:
Blowdowns
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Alot of down trees. The views that we did have were great, the lake was drained and to view all...
Alot of down trees. The views that we did have were great, the lake was drained and to view all of the stumps and rocks that are normally covered was a new sight for us.
Dry Creek
— Nov 03, 2010
— shawnie
Day hike
Features:
Fall foliage
Issues:
Clogged drainage | Mudholes | Road to trailhead inaccessible
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Trail has been worked on and is much better. Some parts where submerged with water. Dry Creek is very...
Trail has been worked on and is much better. Some parts where submerged with water. Dry Creek is very high but I crossed it with no difficulties. Hike starts that the gate to the causeway. Will hikers ever get access to the trailhead again? Hike starts on the bridge then runs a guantlet of "no tresspasing signs and old growth stumps. About a mile after the creek crossing one reaches the douglas-fir line and the old growth begins. More pictures on my blog
http://mosswalks.blogspot.com
Dry Creek
— Jun 01, 2010
— twopaddles
Day hike
Features:
Wildflowers blooming
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Thank you, WTA! Our group had hiked this trail last autumn, & found more than 100 blowdowns & lots of...
Thank you, WTA! Our group had hiked this trail last autumn, & found more than 100 blowdowns & lots of standing water in the four miles f trail we covered. The trail is now in excellent condition, a real pleasure to hike.
We parked at the gated causeway at the upper end of Lake Cushman, and walked across to the trailhead. The trail leading along near the lakeshore through private cabins is well signed. Past the trail register, we enjoyed a good spring flower display as we wound through the forest, then turned up the Dry Creek drainage. We turned back at about 4 miles, at the crossing of Dry Creek. The creek is high, due to spring runoff - crossing this stream at this point would be a challenge. Day hike
Issues:
Snow on trail | Road to trailhead inaccessible
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I started out near the Le bar Horse camp and rode my bike for the first two miles. Then...
I started out near the Le bar Horse camp and rode my bike for the first two miles. Then I pushed my bike for 6.5 miles, ditching it near the current trail head. This trail used to go from Staircase to LeBar Horse camp but most if it was destroyed by logging. The Shady Lane Nature trail is part of the old Dry Creek Trail. Each year more of the road in the area is converted to trail. Maybe we will get the entire trail back someday. The shut wildlife gate adds 12 miles round trip to this hike. The gate opens in May.
Patchy Snow starts at about 3,000 feet but there is no snow on the trail at the pass. However, the trail is snow covered coming up to the pass from the North and looks to be a bit of a slog to come in from that direction. I would join this weeks WTA work party on the North end but I have a birthday party I need to go to instead. More details and pictures on my blog http://mosswalks.blogspot.com/[…]/dry-creek-trail-from-south.html Day hike
Issues:
Snow on trail | Road to trailhead inaccessible
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Today I found the Southern trail head for the Dry Creek Trail. I wanted to go to the highpoint of...
Today I found the Southern trail head for the Dry Creek Trail. I wanted to go to the highpoint of the trail but the snow was too deep and the crossing of Le Bar creek looked dangerous. The log book was empty, not many people go up that way.
I started at the wild life gate and Le Bar horse camp and I biked until I hit snow at 1,800 feet. I mostly pushed my bike up the hill and did very little actual biking on the way up. At 1,800 feet I ditched my bike and started hoofing it. I should have brought my gaiters, my feet got soaked. I also should have brought my snowshoes. Postholing is so exhausting! Once I got back down to my bike I was able to coast most of the 4 miles back to my car. Still, I only went 13 miles including both biking hiking but I am totally wiped out from the postholing. I met two forest service workers who passed me in their forest service truck, as they went up the road and again as they went down. The driver was an older man and he kept giving me warnings such as I was going to see snow and the weather was going to get bad. (He told me that the snow level was 3,800 feet!) The passenger, on the other hand, was a younger guy and he cheered me on. The goals of the forest service have changed over time! Even when the road is dry you need a high clearance vehicle to reach this trail head. A Jeep Cherokee is just barely high enough for the job. Full size photos on my blog http://mosswalks.blogspot.com |
WTA worked here!
2010, 2011
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