Information about this hike provided in partnership with
Mountaineers Books.
Copyright © Craig Romano/The Mountaineers Books Queets RiverBig trees, a wilderness valley flourishing with wildlife, and no crowds. The peninsula's wildest rainforest valleys are up the Queets River, and many a hiker has never ventured into this enchanting corner of Olympic National Park. The main deterrent is accessibility, both to and on the trail. The gravel 14-mile Queets River Road can often be agonizing to drive. And once you reach the trailhead, you'll find there's no bridge over the river! This keeps more than a handful of adventurers from ambling up the trail. But if you persist you're guaranteed a lonesome journey.
Driving Directions:
From Hoquiam travel north on US 101 for 51 miles (From Forks travel south on US 101 for 51 miles). Turn right onto paved FR 21 and proceed for approximately 8 miles, turning left onto FR 2180. Continue for about 2.0 miles, turning left onto FR 2180-011. Follow this road 1.5 miles to Upper Queets Road. Turn right and proceed 3.0 miles to road end and trailhead. Privy available. Recent Trip Reports
Hiked here recently?
Submit a trip report!
There are
10
trip reports for this hike.
See all trip reports for this hike.
Queets River
— Sep 03, 2011
— egrg
Day hike
Expand report text
Hide report text
Read full report
Many descriptions of the Queets River contain dire warnings about the danger of the river ford at th...
Many descriptions of the Queets River contain dire warnings about the danger of the river ford at the start. Labor Day weekend was an ideal time for this hike. The day was warm and sunny. Though the river flow was steady and strong, you could see the rocky bottom at each step. The deepest water was below hip level (and I'm short). Poles were helpful for balance. The reward on the other side was miles of easy, level walking amid giant douglas firs, spruce, and moss-draped big-leaf maples in fantastic shapes. Not to mention the bewildering variety of mushrooms, brown, orange, yellow, purple, white, and grey. A few parties were backpacking. We returned to the scenic car camp site along the river.
Queets River
— Aug 05, 2011
— JKnapper
Multi-night backpack
Features:
Wildflowers blooming
Issues:
Overgrown | Mudholes
Expand report text
Hide report text
Read full report
This hike at the upstream end of the Queets River Road begins with a ford of the Queets River. I ha...
This hike at the upstream end of the Queets River Road begins with a ford of the Queets River. I had done this many times in the past, but at lower flows. The USGS gage on the Queets indicated a flow of 1450 cfs on Aug. 5. The ford of the river was SCARY and nearly disastrous. Once the adrenalin settled down, the hike itself was nice, with hugh, moss-draped trees along much of the trail to the mouth of Tshletshy Creek. We saw lots of elk and bear sign, and osprey and eagles. But the river was too high for convenient wading to access gravel bars upstream and downstream of the camp site. A NPS crew is actively brushing the trail (they cross the river in an inflatable raft). I strongly recommend a raft to cross the river until the flow gets below 1100 cfs. People weighing less than 140 pounds should not attempt to ford the river until the flow is less than 900 cfs. But if you like old-growth forests, the hike is definitely worth the effort if you figure out how to cross the river safely.
Multi-night backpack
Features:
Wildflowers blooming
Issues:
Blowdowns | Overgrown | Mud/Rockslide | Mudholes | Washouts | Water on trail
Expand report text
Hide report text
Read full report
with photos
Crossed the river at the riffle in the campground area and bushwacked upstream to the trailhead. Th...
Crossed the river at the riffle in the campground area and bushwacked upstream to the trailhead. The flows measured 2,200 cfs at the USGS guage downriver and the crossing required waders, felt and spike soled wading boots, trekking poles, and some guts. Don't attempt at these flows unless you have experience crossing rivers and the proper gear! Beyond the crossing I got what I paid for: wilderness and solitude. There were a couple sets of boot tracks up to spruce bottom from a few days before but otherwise the muddy trail was marked only by elk, deer, and bear. Encountered at least 50 elk on my two days on the trail, plus 2 bears, deer, and river otters. Massive trees, big open bottomlands, everything about the Queets is big and wild. Blowdown wasn't much of a problem but the trail was very muddy and sometimes difficult to follow. The river has eaten away several sections of trail, one trailess section requires a slog though a knee deep mud bog. I was forced to turn around where paradise creek used to enter the river as a big slide took out the trail and the river moved into the channel that the creek once held. Crossing back across the river was a nerve wracking experience, as snowmelt had pushed the flows even higher. A very challenging, very rewarding trip. I applaud the NPS for maintaining the wilderness character of this river valley, you definitely feel like a visitor here.
Queets River
— Jul 24, 2010
— Jimabuck
Day hike
Expand report text
Hide report text
Read full report
We headed out on Friday afternoon to spend a night in the campground and then attempt the hike the n...
We headed out on Friday afternoon to spend a night in the campground and then attempt the hike the next day. The road was not bad at all, the first 8 miles were paved and last 6 were on good gravel. The campground was very nice and some what bigger than I expected. The next day we set out about 8am to see what the river held for us. We saw the big drop-off that everyone talked about and managed a scary descent down to the river. At that point the river is split into two forks, the first of which is much smaller. I put on my watersocks and my husband put on tennis shoes and we ventured in. The water was not nearly as bad as I thought it would be and for me the rocks were not too slippery but shoes with very little traction were not a good plan. There was no way my husband was going to make it in those shoes so I crossed the smaller fork of the river to see what we could expect in the future. The other half is much wider, much faster, and looks way deeper. There were cars at the trail head so I assume some people managed it but for a novice river forder it was very intimidating. Hopefully we'll make it back later in the summer when the water will be lower. The most important thing we learned, besides proper footwear being important, is to NOT GO DOWN THE BIG DROP-OFF. If you go down the Sams River Loop Trail and take the first side trail on the left it leads you to the river. We didn't actually go that way so there may be some unforeseen issue but to all appearances that is the better way to go.
Queets River
— Jul 17, 2009
— JKnapper
Multi-night backpack
Features:
Wildflowers blooming
Issues:
Blowdowns | Mudholes | Bugs
Expand report text
Hide report text
Read full report
The National Park Service bypass road to the end of the Queets River Road (formerly inaccessible bec...
The National Park Service bypass road to the end of the Queets River Road (formerly inaccessible because of a landslide) is now well marked. Take Forest Service Road 21 off of Highway 101 and follow the signs. The trail starts at the end of the Queets River Road, where the road has been truncated by Sams River. The hike begins by a treacherous scramble off the end of the road to cross a fork of Sams River. Then proceed a short distance upstream to ford the Queets River. In mid-July 2009, the crossing was easy because of low water conditions, the lowest that I have ever seen for that time of year. The trail from the Queets crossing to Spruce Bottoms (about 5 miles) is in relatively good condition. Between Spruce Bottoms and Tsletshy Creek (about 6.5 miles)there are a few downed trees across the trail. Fishing was decent for dolly varden and cutthroat trout, but no steelhead or salmon were seen in the river or hooked. Saw fresh tracks for black bear and elk, but the elk herd seems to be staying further up the valley.
|
|
Document Actions
- Email this page
- Print this
- Share
