Although I've hiked sections of the Iron Goat Trail before, today was the first time I hiked the whole trail in one day. What a great workout! I parked at the Scenic trailhead, taking the lower trail to Martin Creek, then the upper trail to Wellington, returning to Scenic by the Windy Pass cutoff. The nice thing about the Iron Goat is that since it follows the old railroad route, and the steam trains could only handle a 4% grade, the trail from Marten Creek to Wellington is as easy and level a path as you can hope to find in the vertical landscape of the Cascades. The trail is dry right now, even as you pass by pretty little creeks and waterfalls (as of friday, maybe not) and free of blowdowns. The section from just past Windy Pass overlook to Wellington is smooth enough to be bike and wheelchair friendly, a great place to take the very young, very old and very lazy to stretch their legs and get some fresh air. I stopped at the viewing stand at the site of the Wellington avalanche disaster of 1910 (96 dead, the nations worst avalanche ever) and, in the spirit of Halloween tried to conjure up some ghosts, but the only luck I had was hearing the ghostly sound of trains in the background, courtesy of the modern BNSF and Amtrak routes that still run through the valley below. I saw an informal path leading from the viewing stand to the disaster site, but decided it would be morbid and disrespectful to intrude on whatever twisted remains lay beneath the screen of trees. Because of the gentle grade and great condition of the trail, the whole 12 miles only took 5 1/2 hours, including two 15 minute breaks. If you want a dose of history to enhance your Iron Gaot experience, check out the book "White Cascade" by Gary Krist.

Good recommendation for its spookiness. With the historic train tragedy up toward Wellington and the dilapidated and very dark tunnels, this is a great Halloween hike. We followed the trail as described; there's another trailhead at Martin Creek. The lower part of the grade from the parking lot up to the Corea Crossover is a very easy jaunt, even for those less trail-hardy. Highly recommended for those less mobile and for families with small kids -- I suppose a stroller would work on a lot of it, too. The tunnels are dark and damp, and many of the leaves have fallen, making the trail appropriately fall-perfect on the crisp day we hiked. We saw only two other individuals, with one robust soul walking up the steep Windy Point Crossover trail, which is the shortcut to get to the uppper part of the trail that heads towards Wellington.

I've neglected to hike this trail for some time. Every time I drive past the parking lot is mobbed with people snapping pictures of the caboose sitting in the parking lot and that's not the kind of outdoor experience I'm into. I was even more dismayed when I pulled in to see available bus parking along side the caboose effectively blocking any decent pictures should there be one parked there. Today was different in that there was only one group of tourists ogling at the old rail car when I drove up. There were two or three other vehicles in the lot, but they appeared to have contained actual hikers. I was even more dismayed when I pulled in to see available bus parking along side the caboose effectively blocking any decent pictures should there be one parked there. I snapped some quick shots of the caboose for my album before the tourists started climbing all over it and then slung my pack and headed for the trail. The trail is in fairly good condition for the most part if not a bit narrow in places considering it was an old rail bed at one point. The maples along the lower trail were dropping leaves and in another week or so the trail will likely be completely covered with leaf litter. I was immediately enthralled with the uniqueness of this trail. From the first view of the concrete snow shed wall all the way until Windy Point Tunnel I was like a little kid again. And who wouldn't be with so many old structures to explore? Unfortunately I forgot my headlamp in my other pack (darn camping expeditions) and was unable to view into the collapsed tunnels or navigate my way through Windy Point Tunnel. I encountered and leap-frogged 5-6 other groups along the trail and most seemed to be experienced and courteous hikers. Its always nice when people are willing to exchange pleasantries and even carry on conversations or answer questions. It makes for a much more enjoyable experience. The only thing breaking the trance this trail can put on you is the descent from Windy Point back to the parking lot. After having such relatively flat terrain and an abundance of artifacts both big and small, the steep, winding trail snaps you back to reality. Although its well worth the time and effort the volunteers put in to create the trail as backtracking to the next nearest cutoff would add considerable mileage onto the trip. I look forward to returning to this trail in the future (with headlamp) and can only hope the courtesy of the others I meet on the trail is as good as it was on this trip.

This is a hike long planned but often delayed. We (Berta, Will, Joani and Alpine Art) started at the interpretative center off Highway 2 and hiked West to the Martin Creek trail head (about 3 miles) then to the upper rail trail and Windy Point and down to Interpretative Center. The trail has many historical delights including concrete back walls, tunnels and rotting trestles and artifacts of the old rail route. The weather was slightly damp but we missed the downpour which occurred as we headed up to the pass around 4:00 PM. The trail is in excellent shape and easy to hike. Good facilities at all the trail heads. The connecting trail from Windy Point to the Scenic Tail Head Interpretative Center is steep, losing/gaining about 700 feet in one mile. Not much in the way of fall color but lots of mushrooms and at least one large spider at the Martin Creek Trail head.