Overnight on the summit of Round Mountain by Darrington from Feb 4-5 2026.
We had initially anticipated taking the winter route up Round Mountain, but when we saw how dismal snow coverage looked, we decided to drive up towards the summer trail and see how far we could get.
ROAD: We were able to drive NF-18 to within 1.3 miles of the junction with Coney Pass Road (Deer Creek Pass) where we ran into snow. The road had a smattering of potholes that were easier to navigate with some clearance, and some small debris that we cleared.
We decided to give the summer route a go and started walking the road. Coverage was patchy at first but soon became consistent. There were old tire tracks to the junction though, so maybe a true high-clearance vehicle with snow tires could make it.
From the junction we turned on to Coney Pass Road, and walked another 0.3 miles to where the unmaintained Round Mountain trail started. The snow had abruptly become deep and soft at the junction, and we put on snowshoes until the start of the trail.
TRAIL: The start of the trail was not very obvious, but there was a beat up sign for "Round Mountain" once we got just a little way down the trail. Snowshoes were immediately useless and cumbersome, so we switched back to just boots.
Snow was patchy and a mix of soft-but-mostly-supportive and surprise post-holey. We followed the rugged-and-brushy-at-times trail upwards to gain the ridge. The ridge itself was a lot more melted out, and we had very long stretches of dry trail until after Coney Pass. Sometimes there was some flagging, and at other times surprisingly dense clusters of small round trail markers to guide us, and sometimes nothing.
Snow eventually started up again on the climb out of Coney Pass and became consistent on the traverse around the shoulder towards the basin below Round Mt. It was still fairly shallow, with some deeper coverage in some open spots.
We made it on to the shoulder and promptly started post-holing in the snow that had been more sun-warmed than the forest. Snowshoes went back on, and we began our slog up the steep open slopes, roughly following where the summer trail would have been, paralleling a creek (last running water was available here!) until about 4,700' before traversing across the basin to pick up Round Mountain's south ridge.
Significant cloud cover had thankfully kept things a little cooler, and everything was very quiet. No signs of rollerballs or snow movement, just smooth open slopes of corn snow. There was some small old debris here and there from past wet loose activity. We made it to the ridge for the final push up to the summit, which definitely felt steep!
Round's broad open summit provided ample room for camping, and we set up our tent with 360 views and a full-frontal of Whitehorse and Three Fingers and enjoyed the evening.
Winds weren't too bad overnight and temperatures were pretty balmy, but the summit block did set up and became surprisingly icy. Walking around camp was slick and firm in the morning (microspikes recommended).
We opted to use crampons and ice axes for the descent, which worked well although the snow softened rapidly once we were shortly off the summit block and we did have to deal with occasional post-holing.
The sun was out in full force, and we were glad to cross the steep slopes earlier in the morning as it was roasting even in the 9 a.m. hour. I definitely would not have wanted to be on those slopes in less stable conditions.
We kept the crampons on until Coney Pass and booted the rest of the way out, running into one solo hiker on the way up (to our surprise). The road was solid enough for us not to need snowshoes.
Glad to have made it up this one after bailing on the winter route last year. Round Mt might have short stats on paper, but the terrain and conditions definitely has us taking longer than anticipated!
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Comments
This one has been on my list for a couple years now! I was longingly staring at it from North Mountain Lookout the other day lol
Posted by:
linslayhikes on Feb 06, 2026 02:25 PM
Hopefully you get to visit it sooner than later! :)
Posted by:
thenomadicartist on Feb 06, 2026 03:36 PM