Decided to to make a short afternoon loop using Grand Canyon of 15 mile creek trail, connect uphill to Hobart-Middle Tiger RR trail, and then walk the 1.5 miles back down the West Side /Road 1000 for a loop. 

Couple things about the wta description should be noted: the connector from Tiger Mountain Road is now a gated dirt road, not a trail, and yes, parking is an issue. 

The 15 mile grand canyon trail is short (under 1 mile) and pleasant and the interpretative signs and waterfall view was nice. The trail splits at the end, one to the little overlook area complete with benches and the upper one to a closed off old mine opening. Both spurs are short and worth a look. To make the loop we tried to find the "boot track" connection trail from the end of the upper spur to the Hobart RR grade that is mentioned on the WTA description. Short answer, it's not really there, it starts off looking like a boot track and then after reaching a brief flat area pretty quickly fades in a tangle of ferns and brambles. Total distance is only about 1/2 mile but it took at least 30-40 minutes of mostly bushwacking and navigating with the phone . We persisted and did find our way uphill to the RR grade and Tiger road to make a clockwise loop. Strava called it 4.4 miles and around 800 feet of gain but with the bushwacking it took longer. 

Began my hike by taking the connector road from Tiger Mtn. Road SE to West Side Road. The West Side Road was built back in 1976 by the DNR and Weyco for their logging operations at the time. The old trailhead parking area for the Grand Canyon of 15 Mile Creek Trail was built back in 1995 with a restroom and ADA ramp. After the West Side Road was gated at Tiger Summit several years ago, DNR removed the restroom since you can no longer drive to it. Today there are some bike stands and the ADA ramp is still here. Since I last hiked this trail over seven years ago, the trail has been brushed out and some drainage work done. There are a couple of blown down Doug Fir trees, but you can duck under them. At the start of the trail are some old concrete foundations for the former coal crusher building. The trail follows along on an old railroad grade, crosses a creek on a bridge and passes the remains of the coal washery building used to wash the coal before it was crushed. Further on the trail crosses a creek where a bypass trail is due to the fact that the bridge over the creek is in really bad shape and is no longer safe to cross. Before getting to the end of the trail on the railroad grade is a side trail that goes up an old roadbed to the coal mine entrance. This was the Caroline Mine used from 1925 to 1940. I hiked out to the end of the railroad grade to the canyon viewpoint. This was where coal was dumped into coal cars on the railroad. The water in the creek this time of year is really roaring. There are some signs at the viewpoint telling the history of the canyon. This one is a youthful valley while the Cedar River is a mature valley and the Snoqualmie River is an old valley. After a snack I headed back on the trail and took the one going up to the old Caroline Mine entrance. It is closed off with water running out of it. The trail goes up further to a viewpoint looking up the creek where the trail has sluffed off the high bank above the creek. Years ago this trail continued up stream, then crossed the creek and went through Three Creek Flat to meet up with the Hidden Forest Trail.

The coal mined in this area would have gone down to the Hobart area on a spur track to meet the Taylor branch line of the Pacific Coast Railroad. One of the small mine hopper cars was found near the Caroline Mine several years ago and is now on display at the Issaquah History Museum at the former Northern Pacific Railway depot.

After getting back down to the broken bridge, I saw a short trail heading up hill to another old mine entrance, now filled in. There was a brass cap in a large metal pipe for the USDI Office of Surface Mining for Tiger Mtn. Mine Reclamation of 1995. I also noticed large metal pipe at the end of the broken bridge. This may have been the water pipe going down to the coal washery building. When I got to the bridge near the coal washery building remains I started hiking up the connector trail that meets up with the Hobart-Middle Tiger Railroad Grade Trail. This trail begins right by the bridge. I had not hiked this one before and found it to be a good one most of the way. The last couple of tenths of mile are the steepest part of this one. Once up to the Hobart-Middle Tiger RR Grade Trail I headed south and soon found a fallen Doug Fir for lunch time bench. As I finished eating it hailed for about three minutes. I then hiked this trail back down to the West Side Road by the cement concrete road bridge over a fork of 15 Mile Creek. The railroad grade of Wood & Iverson who logged the south side of Tiger Mtn. had a large trestle to cross this creek. No signs of it now. I hiked over the road bridge and went up hill a short distance to where I found the old logging railroad grade on the up hill side of the road. On the down hill side of the road I saw where a trail was going on the railroad grade heading south. This was the W&I railroad tracks that went to their saw mill in Hobart. I hiked the trail a couple of hundred yards to where it left the grade, and made a sharp turn to the right and was going down hill. Looked like it does not get much use. I turned around here and hiked the West Side Road back down to where I had parked.

I only saw a handful of other hikers on my trip. No birds or animals were seen. Makes for a fun history hiked along with a new trail for me to hike. As I drove home past the Chirico Trail to PooPoo Point parking lot, I saw that it was full along with the $5 pay lot near by. There are other trails on Tiger Mtn. to hike with no big crowds, check them out.  George

Took a long, post-Thanksgiving hike on the Tiger Mountain Trail. It was a long day, but thankfully the elevation gain isn't ever too steep on this trail.

It was remarkably quiet. I think we saw about 3 people before hitting our midpoint at Custer's bridge, and though we encountered a few more folks on the north side of the mountain, I think our total number of people seen on trail was less than 20.

There is a logging closure on the TMT between the 1000 road and the intersection with Middle Tiger, so we detoured on the service road to the Hobart-Middle Tiger Railroad Grade, then cut up the hill on the quarter-mile connector to the TMT.

There were some nice sections of the TMT shortly after reconnecting, including the area called Wally's Glen, and Manning's Reach and Tom's Crossing both have nice views, though I think those are pretty much it for views on this hike. Apparently there are also views on the section of the TMT that is closed for logging -- guess I'll have to go back and see.

We made pretty good time (~6h), with varying mileage results. My friend's phone said we did 17.7miles (with detours) but she also said it often over-reports mileage. Going by the Green Trails Maps measurements, we did 15.2. Glad we could check this traverse off our list.

And to think we were going to go for a walk today. Not on such a gorgeous sunny day! This hike had it all: 10.75 miles, bikers, horse droppings, challenging stream crossings, bridges, a Glen, Crossings,  a Cove, a Bulge, a Hollow, and a Reach.

Parked in one of the 6 spots, most of which straddle the ditch on the side of the road. There were 2 other cars there and one pulled in after us.

Walked 1.1 miles up West Side Road to the turnoff to Hobart-Middle Tiger RR. Trail is in good condition with a few muddy spots as expected, the worst just before the spur to TMT. I would recommend Gore-tex and gaiters or one might be inclined to wear those silly pants. The 15 Mile Creek crossing was immobilizing for one in my party, but it eventually happen. It's running fairly quick and you would get your shoes submerged for sure if you steppedl in. Good uphill burner from there to 15 Mile RR. We went left on TMT at the junction and through Wally's Glen and over Hopping Bridge then down Hidden Forest at Larry's Crossing. This is steep! 2200 to 1800 in 0.2 miles. That's 2000 ft/mile grade. Despite the grade, it wasn't slippery at all as was the case for most of the trip save for the leaf covered bridges, some of which I cleared. Headed back up 15 Mile RR to TMT and went right this time and over the unsigned Custer's Bridge (a MUCH easier crossing of 15 Mile Creek than down below) past Hal's Cove, Denny's Bulge, Joe's Hollow, and Phil's Reach. At Millan's Crossing, down the steep and rocky Middle Tiger Trail, the lower end of which is narrow from stems which will whip your legs and grab your poles (another argument for pants.) After a mile of that, we got back onto West Side Road to complete our figure 8.

Maybe saw 4 hikers and 2 runners the whole trip. Sun was getting low and it was only 3:15! Great adventure today!

Began my hike by taking the West Side Road using the connector road off Tiger Mtn. Road SE. Parked at a friend's house since your can not park by the DNR gate as it has no parking and tow away signs. It is a short walk up the connector road to get to the West Side Road. Then it was up hill on the road to the Middle Tiger Trail trailhead next to a DNR concrete bridge over a branch of Fifteen Mile Creek. The trail heads up steeply for about 0.1 miles to the first junction. Right goes up the Middle Tiger Trail to the TMT and Middle Tiger Mtn., while left in on the Hobart-Middle Tiger RR Grade Trail. There was once a big railroad trestle across the same creek as the DNR bridge. I went left and hiked along the old logging railroad grade used by Wood & Iverson when there lumber company logged the south part of Tiger Mtn. from 1910 to 1932. They had two 3-truck geared Climax steam locomotives to haul log trains down to their sawmill in Hobart. The trail goes up grade and has several shoofly trails at creek crossings where the former log/timber trestles are long gone. A couple have deep canyons to get down and up while crossing a creek. Further along I could see Fifteen Mile Creek down below. I came to a section of the trail where a 2 inch wire rope that was used in yarding the old growth trees is laying along the trail. I got to a part of the old grade that has slid out and a trail had been built to replace it. Then back to the railroad grade and I came to a muddy area. Just passed it was another trail junction. Right went up hill 1/4 miles on the connector trail to the TMT near Hal's Cove. There is a sign and a trail map here. I stayed left and followed the railroad grade out to where the it crosses Fifteen Mile Creek. Lots of water flowing. The log to cross the creek was icy, so I went over some fallen tree parts to get over the creek. This was the site of a big 1/4 mile long curved railroad trestle.

The trail then heads up steeply, first on a narrow ridge, then a wider one as it works its way up hill to meet the 15 Mile RR Grade Trail. It did not go on the old railroad grade up to 15 Mile RR grade that the W&I log trains used. At the trail junction was another trail map. I went left and down hill on the 15 Mile RR Grade Trail. It had the salmon berry bushes brushed out. I came to a steel truss foot bridge over a creek with a waterfall up stream and a steep gully. The DNR bridge has been there a few years as moss was growing on it. The bridge had to have been flown in by helicopter. I spotted a few artifacts along the trail, 3 track spikes and a tie plate. I went as far as the old railroad grade ended and the hiking trail continues out to the Hidden Forest Trail. On the way back I found a good spot for lunch where a fallen tree had been cut and there were some rounds, one for a seat and another for a table. After eating I headed back up the 15 Mile RR Grade Trail past the junction with the trail I had come up from Fifteen Mile Creek. It was 0.4 miles to the junction with the TMT. Along the way were a few creek crossings with small bridges and small waterfalls. 

When I got to the junction with the TMT I saw that the DNR had a sandwich board sign with info on the reroute of the TMT between the Middle Tiger Trail and the old Artifacts Trail (now the Iverson Connector Trail) do to logging. Part of the TMT has been turned into a logging road. Suppose to be done in 2021. I headed south on the TMT 0.7 miles to the junction with the connector trail back down to the Hobart-Middle Tiger RR Grade Trail. The TMT has a new steel girder bridge over Fifteen Mile Creek, aka Custer's Bridge. The first bridge was built back in 1985 and had become rotten. When I got to the junction, I headed down the steep trail. It has a few fallen trees to step over and one big one the climb over. Once down to the Hobart-Middle Tiger RR  Grade Trail, I hiked it out to the West Side Road and then back to where I had parked. Made for an 8.8 mile hike with a loop thrown in at the top.

Had these trails to myself today, as I saw no other hikers on this trip. Did see one woodpecker, wren and Douglas squirrel. Parts of the H-MTRRGT was covered in several inches of big maple leaves. Some places have the Sword Ferns over growing the trail. I did some trekking pole brushing. I did spot a mylar balloon hanging in a tree. I could not get to it since it was 50 feet up to haul it out. So check out some of these trails on the southern part of the Tiger Mtn. State Forest with no crowds. For some photos and info on the old Wood & Iverson logging railroad see the book, "Wood & Iverson, Loggers of Tiger Mountain", by Ken Schmelzer. Several photos of some of the big trestles. George