Franklin Ghost Town — Thursday, Jan. 20, 2022

Today we went to visit the rebuilt Mt. Peak Fire Lookout tower south of Enumclaw and the Franklin Ghost Town on the Green River.  Franklin Ghost Town was the second half of our day. We pulled in the private parking area at 12:40.  It looks like this area at one time had future plans that were never realized.  The entire pothole filled parking area was ringed by established redwood and sequoia trees that were at least 30 years old.  There are no type of facilities of any time here so plan ahead. We paid our 5$ parking fee and started out to find the Franklin ghost Town ruins.  Several side spurs lead down to the Green river in the first couple hundred yards but we did not check those out.  We hiked out to the cemetery and spent most of our time looking at 130 year old headstones mostly taken over by nature.  Thank you to whoever has tried to restore this area and unearth many of the lost markers.  We also explored the remains of the overhead coal rail line tracks.  We already decided that next time we hike here will be for the entire day.  There are many more areas to explore: hiking down to the bottom of the gorge and following the spur north up toward the old homes town site.  A red tail hawk was soaring over the river in our view for over 5 minutes. Deer and Elk scat was everywhere but no sightings. My AllTrails App showed over 7 miles of trails.  We got back to the TH just before 3:00.  Another fantastic day to be out in nature with friends.