Search trip reports
Placeholder Routes & Places

Trip Report    

CHS 1 Hike - Sultan River Canyon

Only two years old, this is an moderately easy and peaceful route into a gorgeous river canyon.

SuJ'n Chon SuJ'n Chon
April 30, 2017
  • Road suitable for all vehicles

  • Road: After an easy jaunt down Sultan River Road, the road turns into a gravel road.  The gravel road has sections of potholes - some mild, some more aggressive - for about 3-4 miles. Any vehicle can drive this road and section with slow and deliberate navigation. Not too bad.

     

     

Trail: The route itself follows a very mild grade up a forest road for about a mile. The turnoff from the forest road is on the right. The trail then dips into the river canyon - about 600 ft in 1.2 miles - through a series of switchbacks all the way down to the river.

At the moment, the canyon right now is filled in with every kind of green imaginable. There is water on the trail but nothing so difficult to require poles (although some may find them easier to cross with poles). One of the water crossings is across a small waterfall that has several cascades above us. Not sure what the water flow would be later in the season but on a wet spring day like today, it was a surprising hidden treasure. The trail ends when you reach the river. On a hot summer day, it seems like a nice place to go for a dip.

We saw no other parties on the trail until we were about two minutes away from our cars. The fact that the hike is not in any guidebooks (that I know of) yet makes it a great place to go to get away from crowds.

4.2 miles, 850 ft gain/loss, 2.5 hours with stops.

This is a delightful new trail (only two years old on Snohomish PUD property) - and the first time posted through the Mountaineers database. I highly recommend for a moderately easy early-season hike when other destinations still have snow.

The stop at Sultan Bakery on the way back was a no-brainer. Great group of CHS hikers!