Howson Creek

Only hikers and horses are allowed on this trail, which is not in most hiking guides. As such, it is not much used by either and will be in good shape, provided it has been maintained in recent years. The trail climbs at around 1000 ft per mile for 3.5 miles, so it is for seasoned hikers. However it is nicely graded and switchbacked the whole way with good tread and some, but not too many, easy-to-bypass blowdowns.

However, there are serious errors on some maps. The Green Trails map is best, yet the easy crossing of Howson Creek is at around 2700 ft, not 2900 ft. Also, once you get to the saddle at around 5350 ft., the trail continues directly east up the ridge toward Sasse Mtn to around 5500 before it turns sharply south a few hundred yards to the Sasse Ridge Trail.

The trail begins in nice forest, following an old forest road to Howson Creek. Crossing the creek, it switchbacks up through the edge of an old clear cut above the creek. At around 3350 ft there is a second creek crossing, which is probably dry later in the season. No water above here. Above 4000 ft the trail is back in light forest, with game trails entering from the north. As it nears 5000 ft, it crosses a talus slope with nice views toward the French Cabin Peaks.

From the saddle, mostly open 5550 ft West Sasse is an easy scramble to panoramic views from Mt Rainier to the Snoqualmie Peaks to Mt Stuart. Back at the saddle, an unmarked trail heads north, while the main trail, indistinct at first, heads directly east up the ridge until it turns right at around 5500 ft through forest to the meadows on Sasse Ridge. As it enters the meadow, the trail disappears, with the spot marked by a red ribbon. Just angle left and down to intersect the Sasse Ridge trail at around 5550 ft. Find a metal "Howson Creek" trail sign deeply embedded in a tree, facing south.

The wooded summit of Sasse Mtn is only a few hundred yards north up the wide Sasse Ridge Trail to a a campsite at 5700 ft. Here mountain bikes are allowed. For a longer trip continue north to Jolly Mtn or south to Hex Mtn, with exits west or east.

Driving Directions:

Drive I-90 to the Roslyn Exit just west of Cle Elum. Go north, then left on route 903 through Roslyn and Ronald to the upper end of Cle Elum Lake. The trailhead is directly opposite the Cle Elum River Campground, on the south side of the highway, though the trail name sign is currently missing from the trail sign post.

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Sasse Ridge, Howson Creek — Jun 15, 2010 — Spadafini

Day hike

Issues: Snow on trail

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We followed the Howson Creek Trail up to the point where it intersects the Sasse Ridge Trail. Trail ...

We followed the Howson Creek Trail up to the point where it intersects the Sasse Ridge Trail. Trail is steep and narrow in many places, but was in good condition for the most part. Hit snow upon reaching the ridge top shortly before the Howson Creek Trail meets up with the Sasse Ridge Trail. We were unable to find the continuation of the trail at this point due to snow. We were able to make it up to the top of Sasse Mountain as the snow was mostly compact enough to support our weight and not too deep, but there was nothing to indicate where the Sasse Mountain Trail was.

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Howson Creek — Jun 16, 2009 — Old Goat

Day hike

Features: Wildflowers blooming

Issues: Blowdowns | Snow on trail

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This little used trail was in surprisingly good shape and enjoyable, as only hikers and horses are a...

This little used trail was in surprisingly good shape and enjoyable, as only hikers and horses are allowed, with no recent evidence of either.

However there are serious errors on the Green Trails map. For example, the easy crossing of Howson Creek is at around 2700 feet, not 2900 feet. Also, once you get to the saddle at around 5350 the trail continues directly east up the ridge toward Sasse Mtn for to around 5500 before it turns sharply south. This turn is easy to miss in snow; then the trail disappears into the meadow on the ridge top, but just angle left and downhill until you get to the Sasse Ridge trail and an old sign embedded in a tree, facing south. Encountered no other trail-following problems.

Note that there is a second creek crossing around 3350 feet, but expect it to be dry later in the season. The trail is nicely switched-backed, well-brushed, with mostly good tread. There are more and progressively better views above 4000 feet. The trailhead across from the Cle Elem River Campground is obvious but the trail name sign was gone from its post.

The Sasse Ridge trail is much better used, including mountain bikes, but not yet this season, as there was heavy snow heading north down from the wooded Sasse summit. On one section there were impressive cornices left over from witner winds, but it is mostly snow-free below 5400 feet. To get the best views scramble up the west Sasse summit (around 5550 feet) west of the saddle, or go north from the main Sasse summit about 2/3 of a mile.

I continued on to the Jolly Mountain trail and down to Salmon La Sac. After crossing your second logging road on the Sasse Ridge trail in the big basin west of Jolly Mtn, the trail merges into a logging road. Follow this until it becomes trail again at road end just before a 5750 foot knob, taking care to take the right fork of the logging road around a quarter mile from where you merged.

At this time, the Jolly Mtn trail still has a heavy snow pack below the trail junction requiring a bit a exploring in places to keep on the trail. There is even some snow down to 4500 feet due to the deep canyon and cool breeze from the stream. Right now the stream crossing requires either wading icy water or inching over an awkwardly positioned downed tree. The trail is quite rocky in places, especially in the clear cut area below 4000 feet, where there is heavier motor bike usage, despite some new switch backs. Not as pleasant as the Howson Creek trail. At the bottom, prominant detour signs divert you along a X-country ski route to a new main trailhead at the Sno Park.

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Howson Creek #1349 — Jun 18, 2007 — Joey

Day hike

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Two years ago I hiked the Howson Creek trail in the Salmon La Sac area but managed to take a wrong t...

Two years ago I hiked the Howson Creek trail in the Salmon La Sac area but managed to take a wrong turn onto a side trail which later disappeared and the hike turned into a scramble. Last Monday I went back and managed to stay on the correct trail. This trail climbs to the ridge that is east of Cle Elum Lake and joins the ridge trail just south of Sasse Mtn. The only downer for the day was my discovery that the Roslyn bakery is closed on Mondays.

The forest service appears to have abandoned this trail. The same trees are down on the trail as on my prior trip and more have been added. However they impose no serious impediment for hikers. In a few places the brush is closing in over the trail and I was sure glad the leaves were dry. In other places the tread is a bit faint. Most observant hikers should be able to stay on the correct trail.

This trail is steeper than many and except for an early (and easy) crossing of Howson Creek, there is no dependable water. Part of the hike runs along the edge of an older clearcut but then after crossing a gully you are in pleasant virgin forest. Also, I would not call this a flower hike. It’s more for the curious looking for a trail they have not been on yet or those seeking a trail less traveled. No doubt part of the reason this trail receives little use is the fact that it is not shown on the 7.5"" USGS quad (Cle Elum Lake).

A snip from this quad and my GPS track is posted at

http://www.nwhikers.net/forums/viewtopic.php?t=7960375

The TH is just past the entrance to the Cle Elum River campground at about 2,250'. Lots of parking on the left side of the road and a trail pass is not required.

Tip: At 4,400' you are trudging along with up on your left and down on your right and you are faced with a choice. One trail continues in the direction you are going. Another trail that appears equally promising does a switchback to the left. Stay the course, do not take the trail to the left. Yes, you will soon find brush growing over the trail. Have faith and press onward. After 100 yards or so you are past the brushy bit and the tread improves. Two years ago I explored a short way into the brushy section and then went back and took the fork to the left - Wrong! I suspect the trail to the left is part of the older trail mentioned in the Hidden Hikes In Western Washington guidebook.

I followed the trail to a saddle at about 5,350 directly west of the summit of Sasse. BTW, from this saddle another old trail descends to the north although it is currently snowed in. That trail connects to Little Salmon La Sac trail #1325 which starts high on road #2203.

From this saddle the Howson Creek trail continues and connects to the ridge trail a bit to the south of the summit of Sasse where you will find an ancient green and white trail sign. However, instead of going to that summit which is wooded, I scrambled to the west up Not-So-Sasse (just under 5,600') to enjoy the fine views. The trail was snow free as far as I went but there appeared to be snow patches above the saddle toward the ridge crest.

The biggest surprise of the day was to encounter another hiker coming up as I was heading down. He also had tried the trail before but lost it on snow.

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Howson Creek #1349 — Jan 04, 2006 — huff 'n' puff

Day hike

Issues: Snow on trail

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Lots of snow on the trail. Gave up after 1:45 and about 2 miles. Access is from the Cle Elum River R...

Lots of snow on the trail. Gave up after 1:45 and about 2 miles. Access is from the Cle Elum River Road which is plowed beyond this trailhead to Salmon La Sac.

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Howson Creek #1349 — Sep 06, 2005 — Whitebark

Day hike

Issues: Blowdowns | Overgrown

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On Sunday, I and some of my buddies tried out the Howson Creek Trail, a little-used path in the Sal...

On Sunday, I and some of my buddies tried out the Howson Creek Trail, a little-used path in the Salmon La Sac area. The cool and cloudy weather prevailing that day was perfect for this trail, which is relentless steep and dry. Driving to the trailhead was exceptionally easy, as the trail starts right next to the paved Salmon La Sac road, near at the upper end of Lake Cle Elum( which has mostly dried up and looks like Death Valley right now). Look for a sign on the right side of the road; there's a wide gravel parking area on the left side, elevation 2300'. No trail park pass is required. When we arrived, there were no cars at the trail head and we saw nobody all day--this on Labor Day Weekend!

The first mile of the trail was easy enough, as the path followed an old road bed that climbed gently through thick forest near Howson Creek. However, after the creek crossing, the trail turned cruel. The trail climbed briskly through a brushy overgrown clearcut, then reaching old growth forest, switchbacked up the steep slope at an even more aggressive gradient. Some nice big doug and grand firs provided shade. Much of the tread of this lightly maintained trail had slumped down the hill, and there were quite a few logs down on the trail. There were moments where we felt we were on the thighmaster from hell.

Some animal tracks crossing the trail looked about as well built as the trail itself; you have to pay attention to stay on the correct path. However, I found that following the correct route was not as hard as some previous reports had suggested.

Lower down, the forest trees blocked most of the views, but above 4000' the trail crossed talus slopes that provided increasingly broad vistas. After one particularly nasty steep stretch where the trail bypassed a switchback ruined by blowdown, the path attained a 5000' ridgeline where the scenery became alpine and the view broadened exponentially. Beyond here, the trail traversed a steep talus slope dotted with spire-like subalpine fir high above the headwater basin of Howson Creek. Some good sized trees were growing right in the middle of the trail, suggesting how much time has passed since any maintainence work has been done here.

Eventually we arrived at a 5400' saddle near Sasse Moutain. Instead of following the trail to its end on Sasse Mountain, we turned left and climbed to the top of a 5600' spur ridge, whose thinly forested top provided a satisfyingly vast vista that included all of the usual suspects: Lemah Mountain with its large glacier, Mt Daniel, Mt Stuart, Mt Jolly, and many other peaks.

In summary, we found the Howson Creek trail to be a nice escape from other more popular trails. But if you come here, expect to be aerobically challenged. Also, bring a lopper and pruning saw--a little brushing work will greatly help.

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