It has been a long time since a review has been written, and many existing ones confused me, so here is a thorough review. In short, it is a good trail with great views, but … hard to get to and multi-use (hike, bike, motorcycle, horse).
The trail basically runs a ridge from the NE, near Easton, to the SW, with trailheads at each end. There are several excellent view points along the way, with the best at the Goat Peak Benchmark and Cole Butte (shown on the WTA provided map). Goat Peak overlooks the I-90 corridor to the NE and distant peaks such as Mt.Stuart (unconfirmed due to ~6000’ clouds), and mountains to the S such as Mt.Rainier (again, unconfirmed). Cole Butte also overlooks the I-90 corridor, but more towards the NW, to Kachess Lake and beyond, and to the S and SE.
We started at the SW trailhead, 5100’, and hiked mostly uphill for 1.6 mile to Cole Butte, 5500’. Then continued along the ridge, dropping to a saddle at 4600’, then climbing back up to Goat Peak, 5040’. Goat Peak is the site of a former lookout tower, with only the foundation blocks remaining. Views at Goat Peak are shrouded by trees. For the best views continue a little further to a fork in the trail. Take the right path (to the SE) that is a short spur to Goat Peak East (5000’). (The left path to the NE leads to the NE trailhead, according to the map.) Normal hikers cannot summit Goat Peak East, but the Benchmark at 4981’ offers excellent views and is where most photos will be taken. During our trek (on a nice Sunday), we saw no other hikers and 3 motorcyclists. Wildlife spotting was slim as well seeing only a handful of grouse, a ground squirrel, smaller birds, and elk tracks. Gaia tracker says we logged 7.9 miles (out and back) with 1920’ vertical gain.
The trail is snow-free and in good condition. It has been maintained (all but one downed tree has been cut), but because motorcycles use it, some places have ruts and the ground can be loose dirt and rock, making for dusty conditions and slippery slopes. A few sections are very steep (probably close to 1000 feet/mile), with tall steps. Us average hiker types were in awe of the skill that the motorcycle riders must have to make it up and over Cole Butte.
Now for the getting there part – for starter, the WTA dot is wrong, there is no trailhead off the Cole Creek road. We read other WTA reviews, and road status at the Okanogan-Wenatchee NF website, and concluded that there may only be one way for a car (not sure about motorcycles) to access the trail, due to road and bridge conditions. Our route exited I-90 at FR 54 (Stampede Pass), then after 3 mile (all mileage approx.) take the left fork onto FR 41. Follow FR 41 for 10.2 mile and take the right turn onto FR 4110, following Log Creek. Go 4.3 mile to a left turn onto FR 4110-118. The road signage is really bad, so a good map or GPS app (like Gaia) is essential for route finding. These first 3 roads are maintained, but with plenty of potholes, and should be passable for most cars with decent ground clearance. The last road, 2.9 mile on FR 4110-118, is a different story: high ground clearance is required to get over the humps made by road construction crews (presumably to control rain runoff). Our Titan Pro4X did make it, but barely. The road is steep and rough as well, so 4x4 will help. It is also a very narrow road with lots of encroaching trees and shrubs; a huge thank-you goes out to whoever recently did some brush cutting. Parking space is slim (a few cars), but there is good solitude here, so not much competition for parking.
Other (older) reviews describe two ways to access the NE trailhead from Easton: Tucker Creek, or Cabin Creek FR 41, but these may not be passable at this time (unconfirmed).
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