Information about this hike provided in partnership with
Mountaineers Books.
Copyright © Dan A. Nelson/The Mountaineers Books Observation Peak
Wild is the keyword here. Wildflowers, wild berries, and wildlife thrive throughout this area. The trail climbs past Sister Rocks, through a natural resources research area, and onto the summit of Observation Peak.
From the trailhead, head south into the Sister Rocks Research Natural Area. For more than 1 mile, you'll wander through this wild research area where foresters focus on studying our native Northwestern woodlands. At 1.5 miles, the trail skirts under the Sister Rocks, pretty geologic knobs on the ridge above Siouxon Creek. From the rocks, the trail continues south another mile to the summit of Observation Peak. Enjoy the outstanding views here before heading back down the trail you just came up.
Driving Directions:
From Carson, drive 8.4 miles north on Wind River Road (County Road 30) to the town of Stabler and the junction with Hemlock Road. Turn left (west) onto Hemlock Road, cross the river, and bear right (north) onto Forest Road 54. Continue 12 miles and then turn right onto FR 58. Drive about 7 miles north to the Sister Rocks Research Natural Area trailhead on the right. Recent Trip Reports
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Multi-night backpack
Features:
Wildflowers blooming | Fall foliage | Ripe berries
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This beautiful and relatively infrequented trail travels through the Trapper Creek Wilderness to Obs...
This beautiful and relatively infrequented trail travels through the Trapper Creek Wilderness to Observation Peak. The trail is in pretty good shape with camps and water sources at regular intervals. It goes up, then down, intersecting Big Hollow, Trapper Creek, and Shortcut Trails. This would be a lovely autumn day hike as views through the trees show off colorful maple interspersed with dark fir on surrounding hillsides. There are a lot of blue huckleberry bushes, too.
As the area was too steep to log, you hike through old growth studded (this time of year) with mushrooms and fungus galore, bear grass, huckleberry, ferns, and still-blooming gentian and paintbrush (even some hare bells up top). A signed view point as the trail crests a ridge yields Indian Heaven at your feet. Or that's what we were told - we had a lovely view of the interior of a cloud. The view from the windy peak includes St. Helen's (you've got to stand just right), Goat Rocks, The Sisters, Soda Peaks, Adams, Jefferson, and Hood. We watched the clouds and mist move in and out of hollows and valleys, racing across the mountains that would re-appear like Brigadoon. But we were there for work on this WTA BCRT (Back Country Response Team) crew. We brushed back trees and shrubs and improved the tread with berm removal and check steps. Photos of the trail, camp, and our work are at: http://www.flickr.com/[…]/
Observation Peak
— Jul 31, 2011
— brina415
Day hike
Features:
Wildflowers blooming
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Before my trip report: DO NOT FOLLOW THE DIRECTIONS listed here to get to the trail head. The roads ...
Before my trip report: DO NOT FOLLOW THE DIRECTIONS listed here to get to the trail head. The roads have not been maintained in a while and it is pothole city. We can a handle dusty forest road like the rest of them but this was miserable.
Instead: Stay on Wind River Rd PAST Stabler then past the fish hatchery to Dry Creek Road 64. Bear left on FS Road 58 and you won't miss the trail head. These roads are in MUCH better condition and wish we had chosen this route initially. Otherwise, hike was great. Good weather, gorgeous views! A very scenic peak to summit! Unfortunately there were SO MANY mosquitoes at the top it was impossible to spend any length of time there. Was hoping to sit and have a snack but if you stopped moving for any length of time the mosquitoes were all over you. Day hike
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I led a group from the Portland Hiking Meet-Up on a mission to find 1)Great views 2)Big Trees and 3)...
I led a group from the Portland Hiking Meet-Up on a mission to find 1)Great views 2)Big Trees and 3)Huckleberries. The weather was overcast so we got our huckleberries and fat trees, but the view was a B+ because of the clouds. In a nutshell we did a counterclockwise loop around Observation Peaking taking about 5 hours.
We set off from the Observation Trailhead (north side) and hiked the 2.8 miles to Observation Peak in cool mist. At the summit, grey clouds hung in the sky, but we could still see out to Indian Heaven although Mt. Adams and the other volcanoes were obscured. Then we continued southeast on the Observation Trail for another 1.1 miles to the jct with the Sunshine Trail. Wereas the Observation Trail is free and clear of downed trees and vegetation, the primitive Sunshine Trail required some scrambling and route finding. About 1/2 mile further we curved Northwest following the Rim Trail which was at times even harder to follow than the Sunshine Trail. Since logs are left to lie, only the occasional blaze showed the way. Several times we lost the route and had to fan out in search of the next blaze. Finally after only another mile, we connected to the Trapper Creek Trail and followed it north for 1/2 mile to get back to the Observation Trail. I've heard that the off-trail hike to the top of SistersRocks is worth it, but by the time we got there we were too tuckered out to add more mileage. Day hike
Issues:
Snow on trail
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We joined forces with the Portland Hiking Meet-Up group to work on a section of the Observation Trai...
We joined forces with the Portland Hiking Meet-Up group to work on a section of the Observation Trail. We shuttled up to the upper trailhead and hiked in with our tools through mist enshrouded silver fir. Avalanche lilies were in full bloom.
It was too cloudy to get a good view at the junction with the spur trail to Sisters Rocks. As we continued towards the junction with the Big Hollow Trail we had to hike across the snow, but it was firm underfoot. By the time we reached Berry Camp, the snow was gone, but the clouds lingered. It was actually great weather for hiking and for working on the trail. We worked on an overgrown section about halfway between the jct with the Sunrise Trail and the Big Slide Trail. Vine maple was pushing downhill and the tread was creeping further downhill. After fixing that section we moved on to another really brushy section that was in bad shape. We'll need to come back and finish that section another day since we had to get going before it was done. The crew also bucked out a few logs across the trail with the cross-cuts. Overall the trail is in good shape except for a few spots that need treadwork and brushing. Other highlights include big old growth trees, a mossy waterfall and the pacific dogwoods were in full bloom. Day hike
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With a planned trip around Mount St. Helens on the Loowit Trail just over a month away. I needed to ...
With a planned trip around Mount St. Helens on the Loowit Trail just over a month away. I needed to get some miles on my boots. A loop through the Trapper Creek wilderness seemed like a great way to get some exercise, see some old-growth and great views.
I parked at the Trapper Creek Wilderness Trailhead and hiked the Dry Creek Trail # 194 upriver to the jct with the Big Hollow Trail #158. Along the 4 mile route I noted a couple of nice spots places to have a picnic along the creek. The pools would make for good wading, but I didn’t see any holes deep enough for a proper swim. The ford at Bourbon Creek required some careful footwork and a big jump to keep from getting my feet wet. Then I climbed up the Big Hollow trail for 3.2 miles gaining about 2,400 ft. in elevation. The first mile was brutal as it went straight up a very steep slope. Numerous check dams and water bars were fighting a losing battle against erosion. But then the grade mellowed from insanely steep to just steep. The tread was narrow and getting brushy, but passable. The mosquitoes were waiting to ambush me in the upper drainage about .5 miles from Berry Camp. Unfortunately I had forgot the DEET back at the Trailhead. So I pushed on as quickly as my tired legs would go up to the jct with the Observation Trail #132. Once on ridge to the summit, the mosquitoes abated. What a fantastic view to see all the southern Cascade peaks from one spot! After lunch I descended by way of the Observation Trail back to the Trapper Creek Trailhead passing several huge old-growth Douglas-fir along the way. The trail was in good shape, but the middle section has some brushy areas and places where the tread is starting to deteriorate becoming narrow and off-camber. We’ll be doing tread reconstruction next weekend (July 18,19) and a Backcountry Response Team will be there the following weekend to take care of these spots. In total I think the loop was about 16 miles. |
 View from Observation Peak. Photo by Justpeachy.
2009, 2010, 2011
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