Information about this hike provided in partnership with
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Copyright © Craig Romano/The Mountaineers Books North Fork Skokomish River and Flapjack Lakes
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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 North Fork Skokomish Trail will satisfy your hiking desires whether you amble up it for 1 mile or 10. The first 3.5 miles were once a road. Decommissioned in the early 1970s, it now makes for a wide and well-graded path. The trail follows part of the O'Neil Party's 1890 exploratory route. Several months after the famous Press Expedition, which traversed the Olympic interior from north to south, Lieutenant O'Neil led a group of scientists and soldiers across the Olympics from east to west. Immediately start with a view up the wild valley. At 0.5 mile cross Slate Creek, fed by a little lake high on Mount Lincoln. Cross a luxuriant bottomland of massive cedars and firs-a few big big-leaf maples too! Cross a small creek and large outwash area, and at 1 mile come to the Staircase Rapids Trail. The bridge has been out for years. If it ever gets replaced, this trail makes a nice loop for children and those short on time. The main trail continues right, coming within earshot and eyesight of the tumbling North Fork. A few nice riverbank flats can be accessed along the way. At 1.25 miles pass the Slide Camp access, leading to good camp and picnic sites on the river. Proceed past remnants of a 1986 slide and emerge at the edge of a 1985 burn. Thanks to a careless camper, 1400 acres of our old-growth heritage went up in flames. Thankfully, nature forgives, and the area has been nicely recovering. At 2 miles emerge on a small rise in the burnt-over area, which offers good views of the bowing river. Now climbing gradually, move away from the waterway through a forest of new greenery and resilient giants sporting blackened trunks. At 3.4 miles reach the junction to Flapjack Lakes at Spike Camp (elev. 1450 ft). Big Log Camp: For Big Log Camp, head straight, soon returning to the riverbank and more impressive old growth. At 5.5 miles arrive at a junction. Big Log Camp is to your left, a great place to while away the afternoon by the river. Flapjack Lakes: For Flapjack Lakes, head right, climbing out of the valley. After a few switchbacks, the trail turns north, skirting a slope and gradually gaining elevation. At 5.5 miles, cross Madeline Creek. Skirt another hillside and then work your way up the Donahue Creek ravine. The way, now considerably steeper, parallels the cascading creek. At 7 miles the climb eases and you reach a junction with the trail that heads to Black and White Lakes and Smith Lake. Continue right and after 0.5 mile reach the two Flapjack Lakes (elev. 3900 ft). Ringed by subalpine forest and framed by the rugged spires of the Sawtooth Range, the lakes serve up a hearty helping of views. In this popular place, please help mitigate environmental degradation by practicing Leave No Trace principles.
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 right and drive 1.2 miles to the Staircase Ranger Station. Trailhead parking is on your right, across from the campground. Water and privies available. Recent Trip Reports
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North Fork Skokomish River and Flapjack Lakes
— Jan 28, 2012
— esunblade
Day hike
Issues:
Snow on trail | Road to trailhead inaccessible
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Road Closed Due to Snow:
Hiked in 1 mile to the trailhead at the Staircase Ranger Station. The road had...
Road Closed Due to Snow:
Hiked in 1 mile to the trailhead at the Staircase Ranger Station. The road had tire treads in the snow from park service vehicles and this made for an easy walk to the park entrance. North Fork Skokomish River: Hiked in about .5 miles to the first ford at Slate Creek. The trail was snow covered with a couple of inches but was settled and not too difficult to hike without snowshoes. Our tracks were the only ones on the trail and the winter stillness made for a serene walk. Slate Creek was running high and the makeshift ford crossing was wet and icy so we ate our sandwiches and turned back. Passed a couple other parties back along the road headed for Staircase Rapids. Nice, peaceful hike and hopefully we will have better luck in the spring!
North Fork Skokomish River and Flapjack Lakes
— Sep 16, 2011
— ilikehiking
Multi-night backpack
Features:
Ripe berries
Issues:
Blowdowns | Water on trail | Bugs
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General: We went to flapjack lakes for a 3 day, 2 night trip with a group of 3 people. The...
General: We went to flapjack lakes for a 3 day, 2 night trip with a group of 3 people. The trail head is by a ranger station and a nice big parking lot (there are some other trail heads too) which only had a few cars in it. We started at about 12:30 and arrived to the lake around 6:30 or so. If you talk to the ranger before you go, he will tell you some useful info like which bear wires are still up and which aren't and weather fishing is okay. You can also get a good map of the lakes with campsite and bear wire locations. There are also multiple campsites on the way up to the lake in case you don't make it on the 1st day. Finally, there are no fires at the lake campsites and above, so bring your sweaters! I left mine in the car...
Trail: The trail was pretty deserted both on the way up and back down (we saw maybe 4-6 groups/individuals each way?) but I hear that it can get more crowded earlier in the summer. When we arrived at the lake we were the only group there. On our 2nd night a few other groups showed up however. There are a few places with some mud/water on the trail but nothing too bad. The trail is also pretty flat until you reach the sign that says the lake is 4 miles away. This is where most of the elevation gain is so make sure you are ready! Also where the huckleberries are too! Finally, there are many stream/creek crossings and springs (and the skokomish for the first bit of the trail) so water sources are plentiful. The lakes: The lakes are absolutely beautiful. It is too bad we didn't have any sun when we were there but they are still amazing, as are the mountain tops that you see behind them. We saw many fish jumping in them too. We caught 3 of them during our 2nd day of the trip (spent it all fishing, didn't do any hiking since the fishing was so fun, and since I forgot to bring waterproof pants and it was damp). There are many great places to either fish, or just sit around the lakes. There are also many little trails going around the lakes and to the different campsites. Weather: The weather was pretty good, though cloudy, on the way up (Friday). Despite all of the clouds it was pretty dry and it didn't start to rain until after we went to bed. The 2nd day it was a damp and cold for most of the day, but it only started to sprinkle a couple of times and overall wasn't bad. The 2nd night it poured however and continued until the 3rd morning. As the last day went on it cleared up and there was even a good amount of sun on our return trip. Random: Watch out for the privy at the lake. My boyfriend told me that it is literally full of **** and about to overflow. I'm not sure if you are still supposed to use it if it is in this condition, but I'd just recommend digging a hole. Speaking of which, for those of you who need to hear this: PLEASE DIG A HOLE. For the love of god, it's not that hard and keeps the areas sooooo much nicer. I didn't see any disgusting tp piles at the lakes, but I saw a couple behind some of the campsites on the trail heading up. Bugs: About the bugs, there were a few mosquitoes but they weren't too annoying. The real issue is that there is a wasp nest just after the last switchback as you approach the lake. The nest is in a small hole right in the trail and they are very excitable. They didn't get me or my friend but they got my boyfriend 3 times as he tried to hurry past it. I would recommend that one person crosses at a time and that you wait for them to settle down before you try to cross - they kind of swarm after someone crosses them. Also, I recommend wearing full length pants or at least putting some rubber bands around the bottoms of your shorts so they don't fly up your pants. Multi-night backpack
Features:
Wildflowers blooming
Issues:
Snow on trail | Bugs
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We finally made it into the alpine this year during this trip. Along with a lot of other hikers stuck...
We finally made it into the alpine this year during this trip. Along with a lot of other hikers stuck in the lower elevations due to the year's incredible late snow pack, we had to wait unti mid-August to do this one. We did order some microspikes for our boots to deal with the high alpine scramble up Gladys Divide but they didn't arrive in the mail on their scheduled date prior to us leaving for this trip. Anyhow, we hit the trail around 9:45 Friday morning. The 4.0 mile trail along the Skokomish was in flawless condition, as it usually is, and we turned right onto the Flapjack Lakes trail at 11:20. The Flapjack Lakes trail was also in perfect condition and included the brand spanking new Madeline Creek Bridge. There are some great spots to take a break and cool off when you get within about a half mile of the Black & White Lakes / Flapjack Lakes trail junction. They are some nice waterfalls there that keep the air misty and cool plus they're well shaded. After about ten minutes and a few nice pictures there, we shoved off. We decided we were finally going to hit Black & White Lakes this time so we turned left at the trail sign / junction. You're pretty much made aware immediately the difference between the more well traveled Flapjack Lakes trail and the 'primitive trail' up to Black & White Lakes. It's pretty steep, relentless, and in parts is definitely primitive. The TOPO map indicates the lakes are .8 miles from the trails junction but we were both scratching our heads - it seemed like a LONG .8 miles!! And no one ever mentioned some of the traverses that can definitely grab your attention. The trail is a little sloped downhill as you cross them, is pretty narrow (about 6" wide), and there'd be hell to pay if you went over the edge at any of 7 or 8 there. After crossing those, the trail swings around and continues to climb up a ridge. You'll know you're getting close to the lakes when you see the trail sign indicating the primitive way-trail heading left back down 3500' to the Skokomish River trail and straight to Black & White Lakes. The sun was pounding down on us pretty much in earnest at that point so we were still trying to maintain a solid pace. You'll climb one more solid ridge after the sign then earn the shore of the first and bigger lake. There are no signs indicating designated campsites or privies or bear wires. We only found one site that appeared to be an actual spot and there are no bear wires or privy. We brought out bear canister. Some idiots that must have left right before us scarred the campsite with a fire (none allowed over 3500' and the site is over 5000' elevation) and they left a sorry excuse for a cat hole with a bunch of used toilet paper on the ridge right across from the spot. We scrambled around the lake looking for a site that might have some shade (none available at the site) but found nothing. So we set up camp there. We both agreed the views there were by far superior to those at Flapjack Lakes. It's more open and is more of an alpine setting as opposed to a forested setting at Flapjacks. We took off in the morning pretty early towards the next camp spot at Flapjack Lakes. The hike to the next lakes was actually not bad at all and took us about 1.5 hours. We set up at Flapjacks, relaxed, went fishing for awhile (caught a pretty big Eastern Brook Trout) then filled up the daypack with water / snacks and headed up towards Gladys Divide. The trail gave way to snow about a quarter mile before the pass. But the sun was out, it was well into the afternoon and the snow was really soft so traction with just the boots and trekking poles presented no challenges at all. The views up on the Divide were absolutely incredible and well worth the pleasant walk up there. We took off the next day at 9AM for the trailhead and made it by 12:30. It was a perfect trip. Black flies and mosquitoes made their presence known but really were never that bad.
Day hike
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The road-width trail slid away about 5 minutes into the hike. A detour has been constructed. Only 2...
The road-width trail slid away about 5 minutes into the hike. A detour has been constructed. Only 2 streams between the trailhead and the Flapjacks intersection have water. Everything else is dry. A few bugs. Trail is really rocky.
North Fork Skokomish River and Flapjack Lakes, Gladys Divide Primitive
— Jul 29, 2011
— JanetO
Overnight
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Went in to the lakes for an overnight trip. Most of the campsites are melted out. Still snow...
Went in to the lakes for an overnight trip. Most of the campsites are melted out. Still snow around the lake. The weather was cool enough that bugs were not an issue. Trail to Gladys divide had hard packed snow on trail in the woods. Trail was difficult to follow and crossing snow patches needed to be done with care. The meadow and the route to the divide was under deep snow. Morning coolness resulted in hard sun cupped snow fields. As soon as the sun hit the slopes, plunge stepping down was easy.
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Flapjack Lakes. Photo by Mossy Mom.
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