Trip Report
Day Hike - Lower Big Quilcene
A group of 4 current CHS students and 3 former CHS graduates from the Olympia Branch thoroughly enjoyed this trail on a sunny and sometimes warm Sunday. The trail is in great shape, and the many wildflowers along the trail are on the verge of blooming, although Trillium seem to have had a great spring everywhere and were definitely at peak yesterday.
Becky Andrade
- Sun, May 3, 2026
- Day Hike - Lower Big Quilcene
- Lower Big Quilcene
- Day Hiking
- Successful
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- Road suitable for all vehicles
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From recent postings it would appear that this trail has been cleared a couple of times this spring (by WTA?). We didn't step over one log for our 8 mile round trip hike, and there is recent evidence of trees and/or rocks having been cleared from the trail. The two or three bridges along the way are spectacular and set a nice stage for photographing the creeks and the river.
Our meeting time was 8:30 a.m. on a Sunday and when we arrived the small lot was full, people were parking down the road, and the pit toilet was still locked. From the number of backpackers we saw who were on their way out, it would appear that most of the cars belonged to over-nighters - either at Bark Shanty (3 miles in?) or Camp Jolly a little further down the trail. In fact, we saw more backpackers than day-hikers on this beautiful Sunday morning. The trail is beautiful with gently rolling ups and downs and plenty of wildflowers and bushes along the way to provide distraction and conversation. There are a few small stream crossings that were easily crossed with bridges providing dry crossings for the larger river and creeks. Just past Bark Shanty is a bridge and then a re-route of the trail up and over an area of trail that was washed away closer to the river. We hiked about a half mile beyond the "up and over" before turning around and returning to Bark Shanty for lunch. This trail is great for CHS students and the "up and over" provides a great teaching opportunity for teaching the rest step and explaining the strategy of lengthening/shortening poles for ups and downs. We returned to the cars about 2:00, just as it was starting to get pretty warm, even on this trail in the shade. The lot was just as full as when we arrived.
