Franklin Ghost Town — Saturday, Feb. 14, 2015

Mount Rainier Area > Chinook Pass - Hwy 410

Was really looking forward to this hike and it was easy to find the start of the trail, but when we got there there is nowhere to park! Through the chain link fence is an area suitable for parking many cars, but we were kicked out by a kayak club who kayaks on the Green River and rents the small field from to park their vehicles from the property owner. When the club isn't using the lot they lock the gate. So we thought "no problem, we'll park outside the gate on the side of the road"; there are "NO PARKING ANYTIME" and towing signs all over the narrow road shoulders. You drive past the neighbor's and businesses' driveways and they have towing and no parking signs as well (I have a strong suspicion they would rat you out to a towing company if they saw you parked there). The Green River Gorge road was narrow with very small shoulders that were pretty unsafe to park on. We drove on looking for parking in a cemetery located 1/4 mile away at 33263 Green River Gorge Rd. that someone in one of the trip reports stated had a parking lot, but couldn't find that cemetery either! My gps only showed that address as being a residence on 293rd Ave SE (293rd is the same road as Green River Gorge Rd. it just changes names a block or so before the bridge). We kept driving looking for a suitable spot to park, but only found a couple of tiny shoulders off the road and feared leaving the car alone there would attract thieves and tweekers. We finally gave up and headed to Pinnacle Peak in Enumclaw - I was super bummed, I was really looking forward to hiking through the old grounds. On a positive note, the old circa 1915 one lane high bridge over the Green River is GORGEOUS as is the view! Too bad there are towing and no parking signs EVERYWHERE or else I would have gotten to get a better look, UGH!