Devils Gulch, Mission Ridge

This loop of two trails is located about 10 miles south of Cashmere, WA is an estimated 16.5 miles and 3200 elevation gain, plus additional vertical on exploration hikes near the summit. I arrived at Devils Gulch trailhead and began hiking about 11:30am. I decided to take Devils Gulch trail up and Mission Ridge trail down. About 5 minutes into the hike you come to the intersection of these two trails, go right for Devils Gulch or go left for Mission Ridge, I went right. My goal was to make the summit of Mission Ridge and make camp, which was about 10 miles away.

The Devils Gulch Trail is moderate most of the way, gaining about 1700 feet over the first 7 miles, then an additional 1500 over the next 3 miles. There are several streams and creeks to cross, two of which had no means of crossing besides walking through, these two were about a foot and a half deep and moving at a good speed. Considering I was traveling with a dog (about 35lbs) at these two crossings (I believe the second and third) I decided to take my shoes and socks off, grab a hold of my companion and wade through (no issues and each made for a good 10-15 minute rest). The last crossing before the trail decides to climb was at 7 miles from the trailhead, there are a few logs pushed across the creek about 50 feet to the left of the trail and easy to cross.

After the crossing the creek the trail begins to climb and you gain about 600 feet in the next mile. Views begin to pop out at the western side of the switchbacks (about 8 switchbacks from the last crossing), and after about another mile and 300 feet in elevation gain, you intersect the Mission Ridge Trail. This could be a good place to stop for the night, but I decided to push on towards the ridge. Heading left up the Mission Ridge Trail I was rewarded with a nice private camping spot and an amazing sunset. From the junction the trail does begin to climb again, gaining about 400 feet in ¾ of a mile, but at this point you are at the top ridgeline of the Mission Ridge Trail. Views are open to the east and to the west. It took about 5 hours to reach this spot from the trailhead with about 10 miles hiked.

There are a few good camping spots, both within a 150 yards of the ridgeline. There is a spot slightly off the right side of the trail in a clearing and this was my stopping area. The ground was mostly level, but not perfect. You can hike up to the top of Mission Ridge Mountain from here, about ¼ mile at most, straight up the clearing.

If you wanted a more open but better view for you camping, there is a spot a bit closer to the ridge on the left side of the trail that looks out over the ledge and a perfect location for sunset, I think this spot is a bit more level.

I enjoyed sunset from a log (as my seat) about 25 feet from the ridgeline.
All along the trail there were butterflies, wild flowers and chipmunks. Be aware that there are snakes on these trails, I only came across one and it moved away from me. There are signs warning of rattlesnakes, I never heard or saw any. At sunset the birds were chirping, the owls were hooting and the bugs weren’t anywhere to be found.

I broke camp and was back on the trail by 6:30am. You’d think that since I was at the highest point on the trail (about 4800 feet in elevation, Mission Ridge Mountain Summit is 4963 feet) the way down would be down, well it was, but there was also a bunch of up on the decent.

This portion of the trail is used more by motorcycles (both trails are open to hikers, bikers, horses and motorcycles) and the trail has a concave/rutted aspect (shaped like a tire) much of the way down. Both trails are dusty and there is no water source on the Mission Ridge section.

Overall this trail provides wonderful views, stunning wildflowers, animals, water, wind and privacy. There was plenty of wind near the top but very enjoyable. Only saw two other people the entire hike and they were on motocycles.

By the numbers:

Miles hiked 16.5 (9.5 on Devils Gulch Trail, 7 on Mission Ridge Trail)
Elevation gained: 3200 + 200 est. up to the top of Mission Ridge
Time hiked: 8.5 hours (5.25 up and 3.25 down, this includes the time I stopped)