Got to the trailhead around 7 AM to avoid construction delays and find parking. There is no privy at the trailhead, so stop at Longmire before you get here.
The trail to Comet Falls starts off with good tread, and then it's all rocky and gets a little steep too. You pass through a talus field with basalt columns, and pika chirping and playing hide and seek. There is a dense group of vine maples here and they will look beautiful in the fall. Also quite a few yellow cedar trees, including young ones just next to the trail. If you look carefully at the rocks here, you will also spot British Soldier Lichen.
Bloucher Falls is also pretty, and a sign here tells you Comet Falls is 200 feet away, in case you mistake this one for Comet Falls and turn back I guess? You get good views of Comet Falls for quite a while as you make your way closer to it, and at one of the switchbacks you can get quite close to the bottom of the falls and soak yourself in its spray.
I kept climbing and visited Van Trump Park up until the sign that says the trail is unmaintained beyond here. The lupine is all but gone and the western pasqueflower seedheads are the only wildflowers on display here. There were plenty of blueberries/huckleberries though, the bushes were loaded. The next show here is going to be in the fall with the berry and other bushes (Cascade mountain ash?) turning fiery red.
After Van Trump Park I retraced my steps and a grouse got upset at me. I assume she was protecting her chicks, but I had to shoo her away after she refused to get off the trail.
I continued on to cross Van Trump creek on a log bridge, with Upper Comet Falls visible upstream and went up to Mildred Point. The trail up from the junction is quite steep and there is a sandy section as well to add to the adventure. No switchbacks on this part of the trail.
Here under some bushes I watched a male grouse sounding out its call, it was cool to finally see for myself since I've heard this so many times on hikes: https://youtu.be/L7QmF_r_qoQ
The view from Mildred Point was quite amazing, the mountain from here is more barren and the lower part with waterfalls looks more like Loowit Falls on Mount St. Helens.
With the haze from the smoke, I could barely see Mt. St. Helens and other peaks from here today.
Comments
slo go on Comet Falls, Van Trump Park, Mildred Point
Actually, the trail beyond the sign is in better shape than the first mile and a half of the Comet Falls Trail, basically all of it. If you take this trail from the sign, in about a mile you will enter a whole new realm of the park. Better view of the Mountain, water falls and meadows that stretch in every direction. We have seen goats the last 2 out of 3 visits and complete solitude. Very few people end up here and you have a great view of Mildred Point.
Posted by:
slo go on Aug 30, 2025 01:45 PM
siddi on Comet Falls, Van Trump Park, Mildred Point
I see, thanks, yes, a friend did tell me about seeing goats there last week, I think I'll go again mid to late July next year then, when most flowers are in full bloom.
With my early start yesterday, I did have the falls and the rest of the trail and Mildred Point to myself and only met one other hiker on her way down.
Posted by:
siddi on Aug 30, 2025 03:56 PM
siddi on Comet Falls, Van Trump Park, Mildred Point
Just read your report again, I actually did have the 6100 feet of elevation as my turn around point in my mind while hiking, based on your trip report, but I didn't go further after seeing the withered wildflowers.
Posted by:
siddi on Aug 30, 2025 04:00 PM
slo go on Comet Falls, Van Trump Park, Mildred Point
Yes. Hike early and long. Usually only see people on your return trip. The flowers are great but it is the scope of what is beyond the next plateau.
Posted by:
slo go on Aug 30, 2025 04:14 PM
slo go on Comet Falls, Van Trump Park, Mildred Point
I forgot the ladder/steep stairs. As I increase in age, I long for some kind of handrail, if only a rope fixed to two anchor points.
Posted by:
slo go on Aug 30, 2025 01:48 PM