Mount Townsend — Tuesday, Jul. 15, 2025

A friend and I did this Mt. Townsend hike starting out on a beautiful Tuesday morning from the upper parking lot.  We arrive at the lot at about 8:45am and there were already 9 cars parked.  The lot might comfortably hold 15 cars with some additional roadside parking for a few more cars along the road.  The vault toilet was functional, but T.P. was almost out.  Might be a good idea to bring along your own roll just in case.  From downtown Quilcene, it takes about 40 minutes to drive to the upper trailhead over mostly paved roads including about a mile and a half of descent gravel roads.  A regular sedan could make it if you just take your time...mainly washboarding in spots on the gravel roads not too many big potholes.  But the paved road does narrow down to a single lane as you get closer to the trailhead, so be cautious around curves.  You should plan on arriving at the trailhead between 7:00 and 8:00 am to assure a parking spot, the earlier the better especially on a weekend.  Depending on what shape you're in and how much of a hiker you are, you should allow about 5 to 5-1/2 hours of hiking to make the roundtrip of approximately 8 miles (and that is just to the actual Mt. Townsend summit).  You can hike a bit further to the North Mt. Washington peak if you're so inclined.  It would probably add another half hour to you hike.  When we returned to the upper parking lot, at around 3:30pm, it was almost empty.  Three cars remained.  So it seems like everyone arrives early and gets back to their cars by 1 - 3 pm.  While we were there, the wildflowers were in full display along the trail, especially at upper elevations as you get closer to the tree line.  The trail was in great condition and is easy to follow.  There are lots of switchbacks (almost 30) which help to lessen the trail's grade some, but there are some pretty steep spots in the trail that will get your heart pumping.  The view at the summit is incredible looking both north toward the San Juans and Canada nd east and south toward Mt. Baker, Seattle and Mt. Rainier (on a clear day of course) which fortunately today was.  It was pretty windy up at the summit (almost blow your hat of kind of winds) and you are fully exposed to the sun toward the top of the trail and at the summit.  The roads between 101 and the upper trailhead are pretty well marked and the directions provided in previous trip reports really helped.  This is a must do experience.  I'm glad it was recommended to me by a fellow WTA member.