This was absolutely my favorite hike that I've done so far in Washington. We arrived around 10:30am and parked at the Storm King Ranger Station after spending a bit of time at the Lake Crescent Lodge (where they have bathrooms and snacks if you need to stock up before the hike! Though the Storm King Ranger Station also has bathrooms.) To get to the Mount Storm King trailhead, you will follow the signs to Marymere Falls and hike that trail for less than a mile. On the left you will see a sign indicating where the Mount Storm King trail branches off.
This elevation gain is no joke - as soon as we left the Marymere Falls trail, it was a pretty consistent steep hike all the way to the top. Most of the trail is through a lush forest with a few viewpoints of Lake Crescent below. Eventually we reached the ropes section - I would NOT have done this climb without the ropes as it is very steep with loose gravel in some places. But the rope helps a lot, both on the way up and the way down! (Going down I did have to sit and slowly scoot for the final rope descent). There are 4 or 5 rope sections total - after the last rope, you will reach an obvious "T" in the trail. Turn left here to head to the Mount Storm King viewpoint!
The trail gets quite rocky and steep after the sign that indicates "end of maintained trail," but it looks scarier than it is. After a final scramble over a particularly steep section of rock (see Picture #3), you will reach a fairly flat area to relax and enjoy the views of Lake Crescent!
Hiking boots are absolutely necessary for this hike, this should not be done in sneakers. Also, pay attention to the weather, as it changed multiple times during our hike; I would have felt even more nervous while descending if it had been raining and the rocks had been wet/slippery. Overall, this hike was challenging but totally worth the final view.
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