Information about this hike provided in partnership with
Mountaineers Books.
Copyright © Dan A. Nelson/The Mountaineers Books French Cabin Creek
Featured In:
Day Hiking: Snoqualmie Region,
by Dan A. Nelson and Alan L. Bauer.
A portion of all book sales from the links above benefits WTA and helps protect and maintain our trails. The trail starts with a steady climb up a steep, badly eroded trail through the forest. For nearly 1 mile the route stays under the overhanging branches, providing relief from the sun but no views and little local scenery to enjoy (occasional forest glades do provide glimpses of tiny forest flowers, like avalanche and glacier lilies). At 1 mile the trail breaks out into a clearing with views up to the spires of French Cabin Mountain. In another 0.25 mile the scattered clumps of trees and meadows give way to a small section of clear-cut as the trail hooks out into a section of private timberland. Just inside the clear-cut, the trail splits. Stay left and descend briefly before climbing once more to reach a high pass (elev. 5000 ft) separating the forest and meadows of French Cabin Creek's basin from the sprawling meadows of Silver Creek basin. Stop and enjoy the views of the flower fields before you drop steeply into Silver Creek's meadows. Then for more than 1.5 miles you'll climb gently as you wander through grass and knee-high wildflowers in the sun-drenched meadows below French Cabin Mountain. At 3.5 miles from the trailhead you'll find another trail junction. Heading left here leads you up to the flank of West Peak for great views of the Kachess Ridge and French Cabin peaks. Turn around and head back the way you came before the trail starts to descend the other side.
Driving Directions:
From Seattle drive east on I-90 to take exit 80 (signed "Roslyn/Salmon la Sac"). Head north on Salmon la Sac Road (State Route 903) about 15 miles, passing through Roslyn and past Cle Elum Lake. Just past the upper end of the lake, turn left onto French Cabin Road (Forest Road 4308). Drive 6.5 miles up FR 4308 to a small dirt road, FR 4308-132 (marked with a sign for French Cabin Creek Trail). Turn right onto this road and drive 0.5 mile to the road's end. FR 4308-132 is narrow and rough. Those driving low-clearance passenger cars should park at the bottom of the road and walk the 0.5 mile to the trailhead. Recent Trip Reports
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French Cabin Creek
— Feb 04, 2012
— Wayne
Snowshoe/XC Ski
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Good snow coverage, freshly groomed. Got an early start, but lost my GPS along the way, but an honest...
Good snow coverage, freshly groomed. Got an early start, but lost my GPS along the way, but an honest soul found it and placed it so I could retrieve it. Thanks!
Multi-night backpack
Features:
Wildflowers blooming | Ripe berries
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Our group of 2 dads and 4 kids (ages 9-13) spent 2 nights at Thorp Lake. Our original plan to...
Our group of 2 dads and 4 kids (ages 9-13) spent 2 nights at Thorp Lake. Our original plan to loop via Little Joe Lake become impractical when the Thorp Creek trail was closed for the season because of a dead horse on the trail. (The ranger website says it's closed and the ranger confirmed this by phone.) So we hiked in from Knox Creek and back out via French Cabin Creek, leaving a bike at the latter trailhead to retrieve the car at the former.
We sweated up the short steep hike on the Knox Creek trail. At the top, where you meet the Kachess Ridge trail, you can scramble up a steep face for a great view down into Thorp Lake. The ridge walk north to the junction with the lookout trail offered views of Kachess Lake. We continued north to the junction with the Thorp Creek trail, which is easy to spot even though the sign has completely fallen apart. Then we dropped steeply down to the signed junction with the Thorp Lake spur. (There's no sign from that end saying anything about the trail closure beyond.) As you approach Thorp Lake you first reach a very large campsite suitable for groups. A few yards further, perhaps 30 paces from the lake, was our choice site, with space for 2 or 3 tents and nice logs for sitting. If you walk around the lake clockwise (the trail fades in spots but you can't get lost), you'll find a couple more small sites. All these spots are well shaded. Then, on a bit of land that juts into the lake, lie a couple of more open spots that also looked appealing. It's possible to continue circumnavigating the lake by scrambling across rocks, though one section would be a little dicey with backpacks or young kids. Given the effort required to reach the lake with the main access closed, we were surprised the next day to be visited by another hiking party, who had apparently come in via a "fisherman's trail" (which they had trouble following) from the end of road 4312. And a day hiker came in that way the next day. On the way out we took a side-trip up to the lookout, but alas, the only looking that day was into thick fog. No ranger was present. A few notes on the hike south along the Kachess Ridge trail from Knox Creek (junction with 1315.1) to French Cabin Basin (junction with 1305): the trail climbs from 5300' to about 5650', partly on a ridge with a deadly drop on the left if you're not paying attention. (We felt OK with our kids who were 9+, but a younger or less responsible hiker could be in danger.) There's actually one short section that still has some snow, but it's no problem. Then it drops to 5500' before climbing again to 5766' and then dropping to the junction with the French Cabin Creek trail (4900'). Shortly before that junction it meets a forest road which is .2 mile away according to my 2002 Green Trails map, but ignore the road and continue left on the trail. Then you reach the signed junction with the French Cabin Creek trail #1305. Also, there is a signage problem with that trail #1305. It's called 1305 on my map and the wooden sign at the top of the trail. But at the trailhead (the upper one, a half mile drive on a very rough road above road 4308) is a metal sign saying simply "1307". (There is a less conspicuous "temporary sign" near there that says "1305".) The only trail 1307 I can find is 5+ miles away near Jolly Mountain. Either I'm missing something or someone made a serious mistake. I've emailed the ranger in hopes of getting this fixed. The drop down 1305 is steep and quick. Despite the numbering confusion, we were happy to discover that we'd left the bike at the right place, and I took a nice ride back to our car at Knox Creek trailhead, 4 miles, 400' down, and 900' up in 50 minutes. We found a few mosquitoes on our hike but they weren't a problem. There are still some good wildflowers and we found a few berries in spots. There were a couple of blowdowns and muddy spots, but not significant so I won't check those boxes. Day hike
Features:
Wildflowers blooming
Issues:
Mudholes | Bugs
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Wanted to provide a newbie with a moderate hike with more of a wilderness experience than Issaquah Alps. This filled...
Wanted to provide a newbie with a moderate hike with more of a wilderness experience than Issaquah Alps. This filled the bill. Hot and sunny, but plenty of breezes made for a pleasant day. Whenever the breeze or we stopeed, however, someone rang the lunch bell for the mosquitoes. Citronella repellant not so effective.
Wildflowers included columbine, lupine, bear grass, phlox, violets. Views of French Cabin Mountain peaks, Stuart, Rainier. There's a little mud -- easy to step around or hop over. We followed the main trail, continuing along French Cabin Cr. trail at junction with Thorp Mtn / Knox Creek trail. The junction explained why we'd heard voices above, yet our car was the only one at the Fr. Cabin Cr. trailhead. Tire track on the path revealed that the owners of the voices were likely on mountain bikes. We saw 3 other cyclists over the course of the day, no other hikers. We had a little trouble fitting Dan Nelson's description (Dayhiking: Snoqualmie Region) to the route after the pass: "dropping steeply" and then "climbing gently." USGS map (Kachess Lake) was valuable in helping to find the way trail to the left, which ascends the back of Fr. Cabin's West Peak to the ridgeline and a fine view of Rainier to the south, Stuart to the north. French Cabin Creek Road is well-signed from the Lake Cle Elum road; after that, however, signs are for Knox Creek. Nevermind, just follow the road 6.5 miles, and then take the right for French Cabin Creek (also signed), which is very rough, steepish, but doable in something like a Subaru Forester. Beer at Brick Tavern in Roslyn. I-90 westbound a standstill parking lot at 5 p.m. due to collision at Denny Creek, nearly 40 miles to the west.
French Cabin Creek
— Jul 17, 2011
— lonehiker
Day hike
Issues:
Water on trail | Snow on trail | Bugs
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Update on the French Cabin Creek trail and Kachess Ridge trail towards Silver Creek basin. Trail to Kachess Ridge...
Update on the French Cabin Creek trail and Kachess Ridge trail towards Silver Creek basin. Trail to Kachess Ridge trail is hikable although there is snow on the upper half of trail until you reach the clearcut. When descending Kachess Ridge trail snow becomes an issue once past the clearcut and by the time the lowpoint on the trail is reached even the footprints are hard to follow. At this point trail is completely obscured by 6-8' of snow everywhere except around tree trunks.
Day hike
Issues:
Snow on trail
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After the first half-mile, French Cabin Creek trail is covered with snow. I'd advise waiting until August to try...
After the first half-mile, French Cabin Creek trail is covered with snow. I'd advise waiting until August to try this hike, unless you like routefinding. Although there are a few clearings where the sun has melted out the snow, the great majority of this trail is through forest, where the snow is deep - anywhere from two to five feet deep.
I did my best to follow the existing boot-tracks through the snow, but still managed to take a number of wrong turns, and then have to retrace my steps to try and find my way up. I've never hiked this trail before, but it appears to me that with the proper (summertime) trail hidden by snow, a more direct route uphill has been adopted. By keeping French Creek within earshot as I kick-stepped my way up the hill, I finally managed to make it up to the clear cut (approx 1.3 mi from the TH). More through luck than skill I stumbled across the actual trail; but after the intersection with the Thorp Mtn / Kachess Ridge trail, the snow once again covered everything up and I was unable to find any reliable boot tracks to follow. After the second time I postholed thigh-deep into a freezing rivulet, I gave up and headed back. |
French Cabin Creek by Gerpene
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