Iron Bear - Teanaway Ridge
In spring and early summer, the flowers are so profuse and beautiful that you would think that a gardener had planted them. And because this area is usually clear of snow long before many others in the region, hikers can attain Teanaway Ridge and views of the Stuart Range and Mount Rainier while much of the Cascades is still snowed in. Alas, so can motorbikes, so go mid-week if you'd like some quiet.
Begin hiking in trees, which gradually thin out into low shrubs such as serviceberry and ceonothus. The trail switchbacks through scree and flower fields, gaining about 600' to a four-way trail junction at Iron Bear Pass at 1.8 miles. Here the views of the Mount Rainier and the Stuart Range open up and miles of ridgetop rambling lie ahead. Go left (east) to walk along Teanaway Ridge or go right to a delightful 5489' high point (about 6.5 miles) and a great spot for lunch (going straight takes you down to a road). Flower displays are constantly changing and are a mixture of east and west side flora. At the pass in a dry south-facing slope there is often a field of pink bitterroot of Lewisia rediva, growing in the rocks and scree, like tiny water lilies with no visible leaves or stems. Do note that this trail has no water. Be sure to bring plenty with you.
Driving Directions:
From I-90 take exit 85. Go left and then right to enter US 970- and US 97 for 19.3 miles. Go left on FR 9714 for 2.7 miles to the end and trailhead #1351. Recent Trip Reports
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Day hike
Features:
Wildflowers blooming
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The last (and first) time we hiked the Iron Bear Trail, we started at the west trailhead. The trail...
The last (and first) time we hiked the Iron Bear Trail, we started at the west trailhead. The trail on that side is twice as long, went through a huge flooded area shortly after the trailhead, and included several dicey stream crossings. Today we decided on the east trailhead, which is the one that most people use, and it was a lot shorter, easier, and better with no water, snow, or mud on the trail, and no significant stream crossings. Our original plan was to go on to Miller Peak, which would have doubled the length of the hike, but we got a late start and ran out of time and energy. We hiked the 1.8 miles to the four-way junction of the Iron Bear and Teanaway Ridge trails at a saddle on Teanaway Ridge. The last half mile or so of this segment levels out and is more open, with shorter trees and more flowers. The flowers were past spring flowers and into summer flowers, such as yarrow, sedum, roses, purple aster, scarlet gilia, orange paintbrush, forget-me-nots, and yellow and white heart-leaved buckwheat. At the junction at the saddle in the ridge, we turned right and hiked north 1.4 miles to a 5500' viewpoint, a knoll with 360° views, including Mount Rainier. The weather was hot and sunny, and there was no shade at the viewpoint, but we stayed there to have lunch and enjoy the views in spite of the heat. The hike out was in the cool late afternoon, mostly in shade.
Day hike
Features:
Wildflowers blooming
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We haven't been out hiking much this season due to a combination of snowpack and busy schedules, so this was...
We haven't been out hiking much this season due to a combination of snowpack and busy schedules, so this was our first "real hike" this year. Given that, we were looking for a relatively short and easy, snowfree hike in the Teanaway region. We got the snowfree part right, but for our unseasoned, 40+ year old legs, this was a bit of a challenge. But a gorgeous hike!
Teanaway Ridge has a great mixture of terrain and scenery, from open meadows to cool forests. Although it's open to a variety of uses, we only saw one group of three motorcyclists who passed us twice (and were exceedingly polite), and one group of three mountain bikers (also extremely polite). The book says that the ridgetop junction of the Iron Bear and Teanaway Ridge trails is at one mile in, but on the way up and down our party concurred that it seemed more like 1.5 miles, which is the halfway point. At the top, there's a great rock pile to lunch upon. The views of the Stuart Range and Mt Stuart are beautiful, and we had fun trying to identify other hikes that we could see in the distance like Navaho Pass. 180 degrees the other direction, we could see a wind farm near Ellensburg. If it had been a perfectly clear day, we would have seen Mt Adams and Mt Rainier to the south. Just gorgeous! No biting bugs, just some annoying flies. Tons of butterflies, I don't think I've ever seen more on a trail than we did yesterday. Wildflowers are very near past their prime, although there was a smattering of paintbrush and other flowers throughout the hike. One note - the road gets a little rough at the end as the book says. We did fine in our CRV. When you get near the trailhead there is a rough road to the right marked "trail" which we took to mean the start of the trail. Upon parking in the lower area and walking up that signed road, we found that there is also another parking area a few minutes walk up which would offer extra parking if the lower parking area is tight (as it was yesterday). Day hike
Features:
Wildflowers blooming
Issues:
No water source
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Trailhead at 8:35am at 60 degrees. Trail in perfect condition, no mud or fall-downs. No flies, lots of...
Trailhead at 8:35am at 60 degrees. Trail in perfect condition, no mud or fall-downs. No flies, lots of butterflies, blue skies, temperature around 70 at 1:30. Only saw two other hikers and two motorbikes at the top zipped by on a different trail.
An easy hike and we didn't miss the granite boulders of the western Cascades. No water available so bring at least two or three bottles. The service road was good and I had no clearance problems with my Nissan Maxima. Day hike
Features:
Wildflowers blooming
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Found the turnoff to FS Road 9714, heading northbound, it is 2.2 mi past Mineral Springs Resort. The sign...
Found the turnoff to FS Road 9714, heading northbound, it is 2.2 mi past Mineral Springs Resort. The sign is bent somewhat making the reading of the road no. a little challenging, but there is also another separate brown sign just next to it for Iron Creek, turn left here.
FS Road 9714 was in very good shape the for the first 2 miles or so, after the creek crossing (water has subsided substantially and was like going thru a couple of large puddles) the road got a little rougher and brushy but very manageable in the Outback, once you see the sign “Trail” and an arrow you’re almost there, continue up to a large parking area. Did note that the creek/puddles were larger later in the afternoon; however, still not an issue. Arrived at the trailhead at 8:30A with another car of mtn bikers; we were the first two cars for the day. Trail was great, started in trees and later gave way to shrubs and occasional trees, wildflowers still abound, but are starting to go. There are a couple of small creek crossings in the first half mile or so, but afterward, no water. Views into the valley were wonderful as we continued toward the 4-way junction at Iron Bear Pass. At the Pass, headed right and after gaining a little more elevation, the views started coming out! Mt Rainier was spectacular with Mt St Helens nearby, Stuart was stunning and could also make out Dragontail and believe Sherpa Peak. Was absolutely beautiful! Proceeded about 1.5 mi to a viewpoint (Iron Bear Peak?), a little buggy but not too much biting going on yet, took some more pictures and headed down. On the way down, decided to continue south along the ridge past the 4-way junction at Iron Bear Pass, went almost a mile, found no further views and decided to turn around and head down. Not too many people on the trail, met most on the way down, perhaps 10 cars at the trailhead when we returned. Never heard any motorcycles or saw our mtn bikers again. All in all was a wonderful hike, with great views!!! Day hike
Issues:
Bugs
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Warmth, sunshine, and outstanding views, what a great hike. Finding FS Road 9714 is a bit tricky to find...
Warmth, sunshine, and outstanding views, what a great hike. Finding FS Road 9714 is a bit tricky to find but is about 1 to 1.5 miles north of the Mineral Springs Campground area on the West side of the road. The sign for the road is hard to find as there is no northbound sign. We went to the pass and had to turn around to find the road. A note, the FS road numbers are not in sequence (at least this is what it appears to me) so once past the Mineral Springs area keep an eye out for an brown sign with the FS Road designation on the south bound lane of US 97.
FS Road 9714 is in pretty good shape up to the point you cross (ford) Iron Creek. The ford was a bit troubling for the Dodge Mini-Van our group was in but just on the other side of the ford was parking. There is a washed out road to the actual trail head which a 4X4 vehicle can likely reach, but we hiked the 0.1 to 0.2 miles to the trail and then up. The trail is in good shape and started up quickly, but after about 0.25 miles mellowed to a gradual grade all the way to the ridge. Highlights of the lower part of the trail were flowers and butterflies. Some small creeks also were available for water but the last of these ended about 0.75 miles from the gap where 1351 and 1364 join. Once on the Teanaway Ridge Trail, the grade steepens and is constant to Iron Bear Peak (peak 5489) with views of Mt. Rainier and the Yakima river valley opening up and finally on the ridge top views of Stuart and the Enchantment Mountains. The trip was well work the effort. Note, there were files on Iron Bear Peak but they did not appear to bite. P.S. We passed the horrible accident on I-90 in the Bellevue area and send our prayers for a speedy recovery to all, especially the young 9 year old. |
View of Mount Stuart. Photo by Robert Michelson.
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