This was a loop hike using three main trails and locating the lower portion of the old Hidden Forest Trail. Began my hike from the DNR yellow gate off the Tiger Mtn. Road SE. You cannot park by the gate since there are "No Parking and Tow Away" signs, so I parked on a side street nearby. I hiked the connector road a short distance to get to the West Side Road and turned left and headed north. When I passed the trailhead for the Grand Canyon of 15 Mile Creek Trail, I saw that the DNR had a trail closed sign because of the damaged bridge up the trail. The bridge has been out for a few years. Further up the road I crossed 15 Mile Creek on a cement concrete bridge and went up a steep hill. Around the first corner at the top of the hill was the 5 Mile sign on a tree. On the left side of the road is where the lower section of the Hidden Forest Trail begins. This part of the trail is between the West Side Road, to where is crosses the DNR 1500 Road and meets back up with the West Side Road higher up the mountain side is not shown on the Green Trails Map of Tiger Mtn. or on an All Trails map.

I headed up the lower section of the Hidden Forest Trail which had a nice surface to walk on. My 1994 map of Tiger Mtn. showed part of this trail, so thought I would check it out. As I hiked along, I found a maze of other trails in the area with several trail junctions, plus several good bridges. I needed to use my navigation and dead reconning skills to find way up the right trail. After two switchbacks the trail left the second growth conifer forest and came into a DNR Doug fir forest. The planted trees are about 6'-8' tall. The trail goes through tall grass, but is easy to follow. I came out onto the DNR 1500 Road and turned left going north. After about 200 yards I spotted the Hidden Forest Trail going up into the forest at a curve in the road. A short ways up the trail I saw a bright green wall telephone on a tree. I could not make any calls since the receiver was missing. The phone had an out of state area code. Further up this trail I could see Mt. Rainier as it turned to the right and came out onto the West Side Road. This lower section of the Hidden Forest Trail was a nice one to hike. Not to steep and a good surface most of the way. I could see a few horseshoe prints in the trail from people riding there horses on this trail. The lower section of the Hidden Forest Trail is in good shape and any fallen trees have been cut out.

Once back on the West Side Road, I went downhill a short way to meet up with the upper portion of the Hidden Forest Trail. The trail begins by a small creek with a waterfall. After going through the horse gate the trail starts up steeply through the conifer forest. After getting into the alder forest the trail becomes more over grown and needs to be brushed out. The trail crosses a couple of small creeks with mini waterfalls. I then got up to the junction with the 15 Mile Railroad Grade Trail. There are signs here with one showing 0.2 miles up to the Tiger Mtn. Trail. This section of the Hidden Forest Trail is the steepest part and it seems much longer then just 0.2 miles. Who ever built this part of the trail did not believe in switchbacks.

When I got up the TMT I turned right and headed east. This part of the TMT is really nice to hike, one of the better trails on Tiger Mtn. After going by Wally's Glen, I got to the big wooden truss bridge over a deep creek gulley with a view to the south. I then passed the "Lone Rock" shown on the GT map. It is a very large glacial erratic left from the last ice age and has been hanging around on Tiger Mtn. for the past 12,000 years. Further along I spotted a small erratic down below the trail. It was now lunch time, so I found a fallen tree for a bench. After eating I continued down the TMT and met up with the 15 Mile RR Grade Trail. I stayed on the TMT and went across Custer's Bridge over Fifteen Mile Creek. The trail then goes back up hill next to a old DNR logged off area. I went through some muddy areas as the trail goes down hill to the junction near Hal's Cove. I took the steep connector trail 1/4 mile down get to the Hobart Middle Tiger RR Grade Trail. One of the big blown down trees has been cut out since the last time I had hiked this trail.

Once down to the Hobart Middle Tiger RR Grade Trail I hiked it south back to the West Side Road. Since the trail is on an old logging railroad grade you can move right along. The grade was from the days when Wood and Iverson logged the south part of the Tiger Mountain forest from1912 to 1940. Their sawmill was down in Hobart. At the creek crossings you need to go down and up since the railroad trestles are long gone. At the biggest one the trail switchbacks down to get across the creek and going back up I saw where the DNR had cut down a large Red Cedar tree at a part of the trail that had sluffed off on the steep side hill. I also saw where the DNR had set up a future timber sale, as there a lots of pink ribbons along the trail as one of the boundaries of the sale. When I got back down to the West Side Road I hiked it back west, then to the connector road out to the DNR yellow gate and back to where I parked.

This hike was about 8 miles with a big loop. The only hikers I saw on the trails I hiked where several red beetles, some millipedes and one snail. Never saw any people on this trip. So no crowds like West Tiger 3 or the Chirico Trail. I had a fun hike discovering the lower section of the Hidden Forest Trail, plus a section of the TMT I had not hiked in the past. George

I took advantage of some nice weather today to fill in some more lines on my Tiger Mountain map. Today's adventure was mostly in the Middle Tiger area. My route is perhaps best described as a very distorted lollipop loop, from the gated entrance to Middle Tiger off Tiger Mountain Road. Or perhaps you could describe it as a "Middle Tiger / Fifteenmile Creek Loop", since many of the trails are alongside Fifteenmile Creek / Canyon. 

First things first - there is really nowhere to park if you want to start hiking at this "trailhead", which is at 47.47355, -121.99357. There are about a dozen No Parking signs plastered everywhere here, including all along Tiger Mountain Road for a ways around the gate, and in front of some of the nearby private residences. The road has no shoulder, and the only "safe" parking I found was 0.7 miles south across the street from a fire station. I wasn't happy about an extra 1.4 mile walk, but I didn't want to risk parking near one of the No Parking signs. On my return, there was a truck parked right near the gate about 15' south of one of the signs, in a spot that could hold one or two cars. This might be allowed, but it's really hard to tell.

Anyway, on to the hike. Starting at the gate, you walk north through the gate about 1/4 mile until you reach the West Tiger Road. If you go left, you ultimately reach the old parking area and trailhead for the Fifteenmile Canyon Trail (aka Grand Canyon of Fifteenmile Creek). There is a sign and some caution tape indicating that this trail is currently closed, due to a damaged bridge, so proceed at your own risk. I don't know how long this trail has been closed, as this was my first time there.

Going the other way (right) on the West Side Road, you go around a few corners, up some hills, and eventually find yourself at a large concrete bridge. To the left before you cross the bridge is the Middle Tiger Trailhead. From here you can hike about 1/10 of a mile and you come to a split, with the Hobart Railroad Grade going left and the Middle Tiger Trail (unsigned) going up to the right. For today, I took the Hobart Grade up and came down Middle Tiger, but if I had to do it again, I would go the other way. The Middle Tiger Trail is steep and sort of sketchy, whereas the Hobart RR Grade is very mellow and a much better trail - better to go up the steeps and down the gentle stuff.

The Hobart RR Grade was a really nice surprise of a trail. I figured in this hind end of Tiger Mountain, all the trails would be pretty bad - my past experience with the Fifteenmile Railroad Grade being a prime example. But the Hobart Grade is really nice, mostly in deep woods with very little brush to contend with. There were no blowdowns, and very little mud - just a really nice trail, with remnants of the old mining / logging activity seen occasionally along the way. As you slowly climb, Fifteenmile Creek climbs up to meet you from the left and you get occasional glimpses down into the canyon that are pretty cool. Just before you reach Fifteenmile Creek, there is a junction on the right that is a connector trail up to the TMT. If you want a shortish loop, you can take this connector up and then hang a right on the TMT to get back to the Middle Tiger Trail.

I needed to color in a bunch of trails above this, however, so I stopped for lunch at the creek and then continued across and up the other side to the Fifteenmile Railroad Grade. NOTE: There is no bridge over Fifteenmile Creek here, and right know it's running pretty good, easily ankle to knee deep in parts. Right at the crossing, there are two very slippery logs that I used to cross, and almost bit it as I slipped on the second one. Poles would have helped, but regardless, I made it across without dunking myself. The trail up on the other side is pretty sketchy and primitive, but it gets you up to the Fifteenmile RR Grade pretty quickly.

At the Fifteenmile RR Grade, I took a left and followed it until reaching the Hidden Forest Trail. In my opinion, this trail is one of the worst on Tiger Mountain, especially this particular section. It gets very brushy in spots (like you can't see the tread brushy), and there are several big mud bogs which also happen to be surrounded by stinging nettles - fun! At least the blowdowns are pretty minimal, and it's a RR grade so it's pretty flat. I did unintentionally discover a geocache next to the trail. There is also a very new-looking metal bridge that is totally out of place for this trail, and whoever placed it there didn't even bother to grade the approach to the bridge or improve the trail on either side. I was happy to reach the end of this primitive trail and take a right (uphill) on the Hidden Forest Trail.

Hidden Forest is its usual brushy and very steep self. Nothing too much to report here other than some minor blowdowns - I only did the section between the Fifteenmile RR Grade and the TMT, where the junction is labeled "Larry's Crossing". You start to get some pretty decent views of Middle Tiger from here, not that it's much too look at.

Heading right (east) on the TMT, I was still in the brush for just a bit, but all of a sudden it just disappeared and the TMT turned into a primo example of a single-track forest trail. Honestly, this section of the TMT is a hidden gem - narrow but with nice tread and no obstacles of any sort. There are cool gullies and a few minor stream crossings, plus this monstrous garage-sized glacial erratic that someone has bolted some rock-climbing devices into. Eventually, the TMT drops down and crosses the Fifteenmile RR Grade Trail, then crosses Fifteenmile Creek on an actual bridge (yay!). It passes by a clearcut on the way, but the clearcut is above the trail so you don't get much of a view anywhere. Shortly after this you pass the connector trail that goes back to the Hobart Grade - this is another good place to return to the start.

I chose to keep going on the TMT as it contours around the south side of Middle Tiger. This results in a lot more elevation gained, but it's also very nice trail. You pass through some more named spots like "Paul's Cove" and "Hal's Cove" with nice creeks. The trail keeps climbing, even using a few switchbacks at times, until you finally reach a junction with the Middle Tiger Trail south of the actual summit.

At this point I took a right down the Middle Tiger Trail. This drops almost 1000' back to the junction with the Hobart Grade and the Middle Tiger TH. This was my least favorite trail of the day - it's quite steep in places, and quite brushy in others. It had been raining, so I kept getting doused with water from the brush overhanging the trail. Also the steep parts of the trail were occasionally muddy, and my lack of poles meant I had to go really slow to keep from slipping.  Fortunately, someone had recently cut back most of the sword ferns along the route so that was a big help. There are some good parts of this trail near the bottom, but overall I'd say it was fairly primitive.

The best part of the hike today - I saw absolutely no one for almost the entire day. The first person I saw was a biker riding up the West Side Road (east) as I was on my way down, followed shortly by a hiker and another biker on the same road. I saw zero people on my way in or on any of the TMT sections. So, if you can stomach the annoying parking situation, and don't mind the lack of distant views, this is a great way to get some solitude on Tiger.

The 0.7 mile road walk back to my car at the end really sucked on my tired legs. Maybe next time I'll risk parking in the one spot next to the road, but with such a long hike I didn't want to chance it. I was out for about 5:15 and did about 12.2 miles, 2400' of gain - this includes the 1.4 miles on the road.

Trails I would recommend on this route

TMT: This is like the PCT of Tiger Mountain - very well maintained and nicely graded. The section east of the Middle Tiger Trail and down to the Hobart TH is also very nice and newly reconstructed - this would be the alternate way to get up there instead of the Tiger Mountain Road TH.

Hobart Railroad Grade: Another lovely trail, can be used to do a nice loop with the TMT

Middle Tiger summit: I didn't do this one today, but the section of the Middle Tiger Trail above the TMT is actually quite nice, and it doesn't take that long to get to the summit from the TMT. Just don't expect any views at the summit, it's all trees.

Trails I would NOT recommend

Fifteenmile Railroad Grade: Just say no

Middle Tiger Trail below the TMT: No redeeming qualities about this trail, in my opinion, other than it's the shortest way to Middle Tiger

I completed a ~7 mile loop up and over Middle Tiger. There were a few wet stretches along the route, so be prepared for your feet to get a little wet. Mainly writing this trip report to highlight that the ~2000 feet of trail closest to Fifteenmile Creek are thoroughly waterlogged. In addition, there was one stream that may be difficult to cross depending on flow levels during your visit and how long your legs are. I included some photos and a map below to give you an idea of what I encountered.

Looped a couple of the less-traveled trails on the west side of Tiger. The TMT around WT2 no longer exists so the legal way to access from High Point is to take the WT RR grade turnoff from the main WT3 trail which is what I should have done. Anyway, from Larry’s crossing I took the Hidden Forest trail downward to the west side road, then followed the road down to the Fifteenmile creek trailhead. The old mine shaft (pictured) is worth the detour and it is fun to look at some of the old concrete remains and imagine what it was like in the heyday of coal mining and logging. The creek has some interesting rock formations. There is also a new slide above the trail that caused a big Douglas fir to come down across the trail. 

Other reports have claimed that you can bushwhack up to the Hobart RR grade but that hill is pretty steep and I didn’t feel like guessing where the best route would be. So I got back on the road and jogged the mile+
to the middle fork TH and made the left onto Hobart RR grade. It has been fixed up and gradually gains elevation. At the point where it starts to disappear there is an easy-to-miss sign to go uphill 1/4 mile to the TMT on a trail that is little more than a suggestion. A few maps show the Hobart RR grade connecting to the other side of the creek, I’m curious if you can get through that way. But then you would miss the nice second growth forest that is between the Hobart RR grade and the TMT.  

The TMT in this stretch is a bit rough from the winter but it improves after you cross to the RR grade past the fifteenmile bridge. This part of the TMT is some of the best single track in the Issy Alps. Eventually I got back to the One View Trail (still the muddiest trail on Tiger) which leads to Poo Poo Pt and an easy jog downhill back to the parking lot.

Considering how nasty the fall/early winter was it seems like the trails have generally come out ok this year. 

We hiked from Mirrormont gate on Tiger Mountain Road to south end of Grand Canyon of 15-mile Creek trail.  There is no designated parking near this gate and the road is posted as a no-parking/tow-away zone.  You'll have to walk on the road for about 0.1-0.2 miles to find pull-off parking in either direction on Tiger Mountain Road.  Trail was very secluded and in decent condition with a a couple of step-over trees across trail.  This trail has some point-of-interest signage but doesn't seem to be well maintained.  There was one easy stream crossing past a washed-out bridge.  Hiked to end of existing trail just past abandoned mine shaft.  Trail less than 0.1 miles past this point was washed away impassible.  We backtracked to what turned out to be an improved single-track bike path connecting Grand Canyon Trail to Middle Tiger Railroad Trail.  This path had improved berms and jumps, so be careful of downhill bikers if you choose this path.  We connected with Middle Tiger Trail back to logging roads and back to the Mirrormont gate.  All trails were passable but in need of maintenance.  The bike path appears to be illicit, as the connecting trails were hiker or horse only.