Sulphur Mountain

This trail has a brutal elevation gain in a short time, but the views from the peak of Sulphur Mountain are worth the climb.

Sulphur Mountain trail rendered as a long squiggly line that gains 4200 feet in 5 miles so be prepared to do lots of squiggly climbing as the trail switchbacks up an average 16% grade through forest before it breaks out into open hillside just a short distance before the official trail ending and your very first chance of unobstructed views to the south and west. Due south is the magnificent northern face of Glacier Peak. Below you to the north you will see Sulphur Lake and the remnants of a silted in Lookout Lake. Trails lead down to the lake and around the rim to Sulphur Mountain across the basin from to the south-east.

There is no water on the trail so bring plenty of your own. You can expect to have very few encounters on this trail so if you enjoy solitute, and a good work-out this trail is for you.

Driving Directions:

From Darrington travel north on State Route 530 for 7.5 miles, turn right after Sauk River bridge onto Forest Road 26 (Suiattle River Road). (From Rockport drive south on SR 530 for 11 miles to FR 26.) Follow FR 26 first on pavement, then on gravel for 22.5 miles all the way to its end at a large parking area for the Suiattle River trailhead.

Recent Trip Reports

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There are 23 trip reports for this hike. See all trip reports for this hike.

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Huckleberry Mountain, Green Mountain, Downey Creek, Suiattle River, Sulphur Creek, Sulphur Mountain, Milk Creek — Sep 07, 2010 — Washington Trails Association

Day hike

Issues: Road to trailhead inaccessible

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The Forest Service is closing sections of the Suiattle Road (Forest Service road 26) to vehicle traf...

The Forest Service is closing sections of the Suiattle Road (Forest Service road 26) to vehicle traffic for culvert replacement upgrades. Each closure will stop traffic coming from Darrington blocking access to Glacier Peak and the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT). The Suiattle will close at milepost 2 from Sept. 7-10. It will close at milepost 4.2 twice, from Sept. 13-24 and again from Sept. 27-30. Then, there will be periodic daily closures from Oct. 4-30.

“The Suiattle Road is the main access in the area for hikers going into the west side of the Glacier Peak Wilderness,” said Gary Paull, wilderness and trails specialist. "The Suiattle Trail connects to the Pacific Crest Trail and other trails leading to popular destinations of Trinity and Holden Village in the Okanogan and Wenatchee National Forests, Stehekin in the North Cascades National Park. Mountaineers planning on the famous Ptarmigan Traverse need to be aware that the road closure will be 20 miles down the road from Downey Creek Trailhead where they exit this route."

For updates on the Suiattle Road closures, call the Darrington Ranger District at 360-436-1155.

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Sulphur Mountain — Aug 28, 2010 — henryrose

Day hike

Features: Wildflowers blooming

Issues: Blowdowns | No water source

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We walked the Sulphur Mountain trail as a part of a three day bike camping trip on the Suiattle Rive...

We walked the Sulphur Mountain trail as a part of a three day bike camping trip on the Suiattle River.

This trail has obviously not seen a lot of use since the Suiattle River Road has been washed out, but is in fine condition. Nature is working hard at reclaiming the trail but it's easily followed for all 5 miles and 4100 vertical feet.

It's a grind through the trees, starting out in dense heavily mossed forest and climbing up to a lovely grass covered alpine peak. The views from the top are outstanding.

In late august the only viable water source was a creek crossed in the first half mile, so bring plenty along for the climb.

The trail is clearly not used frequently, but has seen some maintenance. We had to cross a couple of blowdowns, but others had obviously been cleared in recent years.

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Sulphur Mountain #794 — Jul 29, 2007 — Kim Brown

Day hike

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Good news! The washout at m.p. 6 on the Suiattle River road has been facilitated. One can now drive ...

Good news! The washout at m.p. 6 on the Suiattle River road has been facilitated. One can now drive to the 2006 road end at m.p. 12.

HikerJim and I rode our bikes 11 miles to the Suiattle River trailhead on Saturday, spent the night, and did Sulpher Mtn on Sunday before biking the 11 miles out. Whew!

I can't help it though - I love this place and will always find a way to get back there. There are so many beautiful places here - Green Mtn, Sulpher Creek, Hucklberry Mtn, Sulphur Mtn, Suiattle River trail, Milk Creek trail. Not all these trail are accessible - either by hardship of the approach road (Green Mtn, an additional difficult 6 miles from the Suiattle road, and Milk Creek, inaccessible due to no bridge over the Suiattle). Gorgeous area, and we need it to become accessible again, and it's trails hikeable!

There is a stretch from just before Buck Creek to Green Mtn Pasture (Captain Creek) where the road might be a hassle for bikes - the road is pretty sandy here, but overall is in excellent biking condition. There is a ramp for bikes to get up to the Downey Creek bridge deck. All washouts have a nicely facilitated route around them, all on flat terrain.

Sulpher Mtn. trail was logged out last year, and presently there are only about 5 or 6 logs down; only one poses a minor hassle, but that's very minor.

This trail was once in 100 Hikes - it should always be up front in hiking books. The variety is great - from mossy understory to soaring cedars to silver fir draped with cattail mosses, to subalpine meadows and views galore on the lookout summit (no lookout, there probably never was one - it was likely a little cabin or a tent. The views are so expansive no lookout tower was needed!)

Cloudy this day; but the base of massive Glacier Peak came out a time or two. In-your-face views all around - the meadowy expanse of Downey Mtn, the true summit of Sulphur Mtn, Sulphur Lake far below....

A delight, a delight, a delight!

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Sulphur Mountain #794 — Jun 25, 2006 — Rich Baldwin

Day hike

Issues: Blowdowns | Overgrown | Snow on trail

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With the Downey Creek and Sulphur Creek bridges out, there is a 2 mile road walk to get to the trail...

With the Downey Creek and Sulphur Creek bridges out, there is a 2 mile road walk to get to the trailhead. That makes this a 14 mile round trip with 4600 feet of elevation gain over 5 miles (1600 feet to 6200 feet), and there is no water past a little drainage at 2100 feet. The hike is very dry. Most of the trail is in dry hemlock forest.

The trail is in dire need of maintenance. Lots of blow-down. The tread is half buried under slough from the hillside, and covered with debris. From 2300 to 3300 feet the salal is very brushy. Snow began at about 5100 feet.

But the 360 views from the top are spectacular! Grand views of Glacier Peak.

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Sulphur Mountain #794 — Jun 14, 2006 — Easy E

Day hike

Issues: Blowdowns | Bridge out | Snow on trail | Bugs

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The last two miles of FS Road #26 is not driveable, but the trail head is still easily accessible (b...

The last two miles of FS Road #26 is not driveable, but the trail head is still easily accessible (by foot) from the road end. We left the Sulphur MOuntain trailhead (#794) at 11:00 AM in hopes of summitting the mountain and dropping down to make camp for the night at Sulphur Mt. Lake. There is still a lot of brush and windfall, but the trail is relatively easy to follow until the snowline is reached. This happens after what I'd estimate to be about 3 miles. From then on, the routefinding begins in earnest. We managed to follow the trail for about another 1/4 mile by means of trail markers that had been cut into the sides of trees many years ago. (Look for twin notches at about chest height.) At this point we reached a ridge and scrambled up that for about another 1/2 mile to a saddle that presumably overlooks the lake and leads up to mountain. We could not see either due to heavy fog. Lack of a view and the prospect of bad weather caused us opt to head back down to camp on the Suiattle River instead of following the original plan.

On a nice day this hike should be an enjoyable trip. You may want bring along an ice axe, an altimeter, and a camera to take pictures of Glacier Peak. (If you're lucky enought to be able to see it!)

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