Trip Report
Day Hike - Mount Townsend Trail
Perfect weather on the first day of October!
Nancy Lloyd
- Sat, Oct 1, 2022
- Day Hike - Mount Townsend Trail
- Mount Townsend
- Day Hiking
- Successful
-
- Road suitable for all vehicles
-
Most of FR 27 is paved, but has lots of dips along the way. The final short unpaved stretch on 190 is rough dirt with many large pot holes. Go slowly and it'll be okay for most vehicles. There are several confusing junctions, have a map handy or use gps. We arrived at the trailhead shortly before 8:00 and parking was almost full, but we all were able to find space. The trail is in great condition, well maintained.
Views were wonderful, although a lot of smoke from fires up north obscured much of the distant mountains. Very few people along the trail, and no one at the summit. We enjoyed a nice lunch break and then continued about a quarter mile to the "North Peak" of Townsend. Although it's about 70 feet shorter than the main summit, views were a little more expansive and worth the side trip. A very enjoyable day with fun companions!
Main summit:
Views from North Summit:
Looking back up at North Summit from a little further along and lower on the trail north:
We also made a short side trip to Windy Lake on the way back to our cars. The lake was low, but nice and had a lot of tadpoles and some frogs:
