Day Hike - Glines Canyon Spillway Overlook

Trip Report

Group met at Sequim Bay State Park and carpooled. We set up a car shuttle for this loop trip and left cars at the Madison Falls TH and then the West Elwah TH, where we started at 9:30 a.m. Things to note about both TH’s:

• Parking at West Elwah TH is limited—space for three cars. Madison Falls TH is much larger.
• West Elwah TH is in a quiet neighhorbood across from a private residence
• Madison Falls TH is isolated, located at the washout at the end of the road and also a “High-Prowl” area according to a new-looking sign warning us not to leave valuables. In fact, someone seemed to be prowling our car when we returned to the Madison Falls TH at the end of the day and was peering in the window. The TH parking lot was nearly empty in the morning but, by 4 p.m., busy with people.
• You need a National Park pass or the equivalent to park at Madison Falls.

We hiked 3+  miles on wooded trail which dropped down to the river before reaching Altair Campground. Things to note:

• a nice shelter with picnic tables and a stone fireplace (where we chatted with someone who was actually hanging out by a fire and drying out after a rainy night of dispersed camping!)
• There is an outhouse, but it’s closed
• AND I found a TICK on my neck after leaving Altair campground, so use your permethrin! A tick in the Elwha, a new one on me (literally)! The trail is also very brushy in places early on. Be on guard! Trail opens up as you approach the river:
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One more mile to Glines Canyon Overlook. We arrived at 1 p.m. Stunning views of the Elwha in Glines Canyon and Mt. Fitzhenry in the distance. Continued on the Smokey Bottom trail down into what used to be Lake Mills and arrived at Boulder Creek at 2:10 p.m. Things to note:

• There is an outhouse at the overlook, but it’s closed.
• There were cougar sightings at the overlook in 2024, and there’s a sign--which I would take quite seriously given the dense alder scrub forest through which the Smokey Bottom trail descends-- advising not to hike alone.
• The trail disappears at times. It takes a bit of searching to pick it up again.
• You can’t get water at Boulder Creek without a 45-minute trip down to the river, but there’s water on the trail both leading up to the overlook and on the way back up from Boulder Creek.

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It was another 4 miles to Boulder Creek and then back up a beautiful trail through the woods looping back to the dam overlook. THANK YOU to the GRAYWOLF TRAIL CREW who did the spectacular work OF CLEARING HUGE BLOWDOWNS and the NATIONAL PARKS TRAIL CREW who REPLACED THE LOG BRIDGE with a wonderful new one! We emerged from dense alder scrub into huge lupine meadows in the lakebed:

Last leg of the trip was about 4 miles down the old Olympic Hotsprings road down to Madison Falls TH. The road ends at the (jawdropping) washout, and then you take a bypass trail through the woods back to the TH. Things to note:

• There are two trails into the woods at the washout—we took the bottom one, closest to the river. It’s also beautiful, and while it branches in two places, we took the downhill branch each time which led us along the (very full and fast) river. A beautiful end to the walk at around 4:30 p.m.

Total mileage and elevation for the day was a bit over 12 miles with 1200 ft. of elevation gain. 7 hours RT with plenty of time to take photos, change socks and layers, eat lunch, and enjoy the magic of it—such as the fireplace, the views, the history of the area (which our leader knew a lot about) and the lupine meadows in the lakebed.

Weather: that kind of late spring day with rain and low clouds in the morning, clearing up by noon and sun/strong breeze in the afternoon, about 70* by the end of the day

Wildlife: a grouse flew out of the woods right in front of us across the trail!

Plants:  swordfern, maidenhair fern, alders old and young, cottonwood, huge old growth firs here and there, paintbrush, red currant (not blooming), salmonberry (ripe and pretty tasty), lakebed meadows with a sea of lupine and occasionally, a wild rose, and I’m also forgetting a thousand more

Helpful gear and skill notes:

• hiking poles are advisable

though the walk is never very steep, and there was a lot of flat to walk in the lakebed, take caution on the trail down from West Elwah TH as it’s brushy and difficult to see the trail at times. There are uneven places where you could trip, and a couple of very old and slippery boardwalks.

• Permethrine, long pants and long sleeves against the brush, perhaps gaiters if it’s a wet day

It’s a very brushy hike!

Map