Hop aboard the Spruce Railroad Trail for a scenic and historic hike along the sparkling shores of massive Lake Crescent. For 4 nearly flat miles you'll saunter along one of Olympic National Park's most alluring natural features. Nine miles long, over 600 feet deep, and surrounded by steep ridges and peaks, Lake Crescent seems more like a fjord. With a microclimate of warmer and drier conditions than areas just a few miles away, this trail is a good hiking choice on an overcast afternoon.

One of few trails in Olympic National Park permitting mountain bikes, this low-country path is also one of the park's best choices for a winter hike. Gaining very little elevation, the Spruce Railroad Trail hugs the pristine shoreline of Lake Crescent, the largest lake within the Olympic Mountains, renowned for its crystal-clear waters. You can peer down over 40 feet into its depths. And when strong breezes aren't whistling down the lake valley, those same pristine waters capture stunning reflections of the surrounding ridges.

Start by hiking through an old orchard graced with big moss-draped maples. On an old roadbed you'll skirt around some cabins then drop down toward the lakeshore to the old railroad bed. You're now hiking what was once a 36-mile rail line built during World War I to haul Sitka spruce-once coveted for airplane manufacturing-to mills in nearby Port Angeles. Ironically, the Great War ended days before the line was completed. The Spruce Railroad did, however, serve commercial logging interests for thirty-five years. In 1981 the National Park Service converted 4 miles of the railbed into trail.

Although it runs close to the shoreline, the trail often remains high above it and lake views are occasionally obscured by large trees. But when the trail breaks out of the canopy of giant firs, hemlocks, and scaly-barked contorted madronas, the views across glimmering waters are breathtaking. You'll reach the trail's most scenic section, Devil Point and Punchbowl after only 1 mile of hiking. Cross the Punchbowl on a bridge, from which you can admire the lake's impressive depth and the lofty emerald peaks and ridges surrounding it.

Beyond the Punchbowl the trail resumes its course above the lake. At 2.5 miles you'll come to some good viewpoints along the lake's narrowest section at the arch of its crescent. Directly across from you, Barnes Point-formed by river outwash-juts into the lake. Craggy Mount Storm King hovers above it.

At 3 miles you'll round a bluff. The railroad passed through a tunnel here and it is still discernable (but advisable to stay out of). Another tunnel was bypassed back at Devil Point (look for it on your return). At 4 miles you'll reach the western trailhead. Fuel up for the chug back to your vehicle.