Field trip: Conditioning Hiking Series

CHS 2 Hike - Royal Lake & Upper Royal Basin

Graduation Hike - One of the top 100 hikes in Washington state, on the east side of Olympic National Park. The trail cuts through the Royal Creek vale to a lake beneath snow capped mountains. This hike offers views of wild rivers, old-growth huge trees, waterfalls, alpine lakes and tarns, all surrounded by both snow-covered as well as dry, craggy mountains. CHS2 hike led at a 2.5mph pace.

Contacts

Dawn Kinsel

Primary Leader

Fri, Sep 2, 2022
Committee: Seattle Hiking Committee
Activity Type: Day Hiking
Audience: Adults

Difficulty: Strenuous
Leader Rating: Challenging
Mileage: 16.0 mi
Elevation Gain: 3,400 ft
Pace: 2.5-3.0 mph

Availability: 1 (9 capacity)
Cancellation & Refund Policy

Meeting place and time

9:15am at Upper Dungeness River Trailhead. Drivers can take the 7:10am ferry from Edmonds to Kingston and be on time or avoid the ferry system with about a 3 hour drive from Seattle.Options will be to meet at trailhead or at the Edmonds-Kingston ferry.

The forest road to the trailhead is long and gravelly but doable for most vehicles (approximately 16 miles).

Please note that hike leaders will change the destination to a closer location with similar stats for smoke, severe heat, or other poor weather.

Leader's notes

We will be traveling at the faster ranges of CHS2 pace, 2.5-3.0 mph. Please do not sign up for this hike if you cannot keep up this pace. The trail to Royal Basin is in excellent condition and has less elevation gain than some of the other graduation hikes. To lighten your pack, reliable sources for filtering water are along the trail and at the lake.

Route/Place

Royal Basin

Recommended Maps:
Green Trails Olympic Mountains East No. 168S
Custom Correct Buckhorn Wilderness
Custom Correct Gray Wolf - Dosewallips
USGS Mt Deception
See full route/place details.