We hiked Frog Mountain Saturday of Memorial day weekend and were surprised to only encounter 4 other groups on the trail. I am sure this trail will become more popular as the summer progresses due to it's proximity to Seattle/Everett and moderate difficulty.
Road: We accessed the trailhead via the Index-Galena Road which reopened in Fall 2023. This was our first time up the Index-Galena Road since access was restored and we were blown away by how nice it was. The road is paved all the way until you turn onto Beckler Road at which point it becomes a gravel road that is well graded with almost no potholes as you climb up to Jack Pass. At Jack Pass there is a north fork for Forest Road 6550-610 that is only a few hundred feet to the trailhead. The trailhead is quite large and when we got there at 8:15am there were only 2 cars in the parking lot. Of note, there is a toilet at the trailhead but it is up the trail about 100 feet.
Trail: The trail is so nicely graded, it's honestly a breeze gaining the 2,200 feet. As you get higher up the trail is a fairly narrow track and does erode slightly downhill so be mindful of your steps. The trail was snow free up to about 3,700 feet and at that point we began crossing intermittent patches up to about 4,400 feet when we encountered a fairly significant unmelted section of trail which only last a few hundred feet before transitioning back to intermittent patches. The last 200 feet to the summit was snow covered as was the entire summit. All of the snow was easy to traverse on relatively low angle terrain, we brought spikes but didn't use them.
Overall, this trail is a great bang for your buck and feels in many ways like one of wta's best kept secrets. The sweeping views of the Beckler River Valley, Columbia Peak, Monte Cristo Peak, and Glacier are absolutely stunning. We will certainly be coming back.
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