From Darrington, 2.3 miles past Beaver Lake TH, sign and pullout on R.  I raked and threw off branches past the Lookout Tree, to the washout that cuts this off from Beaver Lake trail.  

I was just looking for the book I thought I had seen info on this trail, couldn't find anywhere.  Then came across a 30 year old "Darrington Ranger District Hiking Guide", and there it was.

From description for Beaver Lake Trail "...In 1980 the river changed course, so where the trail comes comes back to the river, is actually a slough...

Continuing on the trail, you leave the river and will pass the site of the Sauk Ranger Station which was built in 1916.  Pack animals were used to carry supplies to this point until the railroad came along in 1926.  The cedar tree to your left (just before starting up the hill) served as a fire lookout.  The trail ends on the road near Lyle Creek, after climbing a couple hundred feet."

There is no date on the book but it is from before the slide that cut the trail in two.  Lookout Tree is doing it in reverse.  Before rereading this I thought I was still looking for the old Ranger Station, but I found all the trail there was.  Anything upstream from the Lookout Tree would have been RR.

24aug2021 ~11:45 i left the Beaver Lake Trailhead .. headed East (probably) ~2.4 miles on Mountain Loop Highway to the Lookout Tree Trailhead. Shortly, after leaving Beaver Lake Trailhead, the paved MLH road became a "Gravel" road; a little rough and it had a few small potholes - though easily passable by all vehicles .. and imho this ~2.4 miles of Forest Service Road is reasonably good driving.

Its ~0.25 mile between Trailhead to the Lookout Tree. And the Out is descend; conversely, Back is ascend - of ~220 feet. The Trail is good condition, and shaded.

i noticed there's another "Giant" Tree directly across and probably ~20 ft from the Lookout Tree (the latter has the Sign-board "Western Red Cedar .. 15 FT DIA). Seeing these "Giant" Trees, i am lost for words .. suffice to say they are beautiful and awe-inspiring .. And the Forest was beautiful too!

Didn't see or notice any other person or wildlife during my ~30 minutes on the Lookout Tree Trail. Bonus - kinda nice 😆

Happy Trails Everyone! 😊

The trailhead is not located at the location stored in Google Maps. Leaving Darrington the trailhead is about two miles past the Beaver Lake trailhead on the right side of the road, look for a small wooden sign with red letters in a small pullout. The location is 48º 9.4460' N, 121º 25.8642' W.

The trail descends about 150’ along an old logging road for .3 miles. Check out the spikes on the back of the larger diameter tree used to climb it. Amazing that these two old trees were spared the mill.

Last day of my Marblemount stay, needed something to do on my way home.  Wasn't feeling up to climbing, thought I'd see how snowy these 2 trails were - not at all!

I drove a couple miles past Beaver Lake TH to red-letter signed Lookout Tree trail on the R.  I had grand ambitions of fixing the trail across the slide area and joining these 2 trails together again.  Took my new shovel to the trail end but could not find a decent way to get over to the dirt.

The far shore looked so inviting for getting to the same place, I have used it many times.  I decided it was not worth the trouble to hack through the bushes, people will just have to take off their shoes.

I walked back to the car to exchange the shovel for the rake.  Cleaned up the big mess of branches near the start, raked the whole thing, clipped.  Some mud, otherwise trail is now in great shape.  So much better than when I first found it I think last year. 

Back at the car again, it was only 3 so I decided to hike the Beaver Lake trail.  Drove back to the TH, no other hikers on the trail.  I climbed across the broken bridge and all the way to the end where I could see the gap between the trails from the other side.  The part past the view platform is still in good shape, except one massive tree fell recently straight across the trail.

We've got a lot of cleaning up to do.  This was my first hike after the big storm - quite a mess.

Mountain Loop Highway out of Darrington, 2.1 miles beyond Beaver Lake TH, look for red lettered sign on the R.  Thankfully the many trees down across the road had all been cut, not so for this little used trail.  Several trees are covering a short stretch at the start, no problems out of the wind lower in the valley.

Since I clipped this out about a year ago, trail is in great shape to the shallow river channel crossing to Beaver Lake Trail.  I stopped here today but went across about a month ago.  I didn't see any fish but there were juvenile and adult Bald Eagles circling overhead.

Back at the car I had time to get the saw and cut out some of the mess at the start, good enough until next time.  Great short trail, easy drive, some really big trees, you won't see anyone here.

The restaurant at Glacier Peak Resort is open Friday - Sunday 11 -7, too late for breakfast before a hike for me, but I'll be back in time for dinner for sure.  Winter rates in effect, lots of North Cascades low elevation hiking to do on a sunny day like we have coming the next few.  See you here in Marblemount, Gateway to the American Alps!  360-873-2250