CANCELED - Sol Duc Hot Springs Car Camp
- Sat, Jun 5, 2021 11:30 AM to Sun, Jun 6, 2021 04:00 PM
- Tacoma Hiking & Backpacking Committee
- Tacoma
- iCal
The Sol Duc Hotsprings Car Camp consists of an 8 mile RT hike on Saturday on the Spruce Railroad Trail, camping Saturday night at Sol Duc Campground and hiking the Sol Duc Falls Loop Trail on Sunday. There will be two or three possible times for a dip in the hotspring pools, depending on rules in effect at the time.
Registration for the car camp is by registering for the two related day hikes. Anyone registering for one of the day hikes must also register for the other one and participate in the Saturday night encampment. Leader permission for the day hikes is required to assure compliance.
We will meet at 11:30 AM Saturday at the Fairholme General Store at the west end of Lake Crescent on US 101. There we can use restrooms and buy lunch food before eating lunch together at a nearby picnic table by the lake. After lunch, we will caravan to a parking lot near the end of the Camp David Jr. Road, where there is also a restroom. We will hike from there east on the wide, paved, level Spruce Railroad Trail through two former railroad tunnels to Devil's Punch Bowl, where we may be able to observe cliff divers from a footbridge across an inlet. Then we return by the same route.
Back at the cars, we will caravan to the Olympic National Park entrance booth on Sol Duc Road, where each car must show a National Park Pass or pay a $30 entrance fee. Then we continue ten miles up the road to Sol Duc Campground, where we set up camp and have a camp dinner together, followed by smores around the campfire, if fire regulations permit it.
Sunday morning we will have a camp breakfast, break camp and drive to the Sol Duc Resort parking lot, where we start our Sol Duc Falls Loop hike, with a break at Sol Duc Falls for a trail lunch. After returning to the cars there is the possibility for a dip in the hot springs pools, depending on regulations in place at that time.
Saturday's hike is 8 miles RT with no elevation gain. Sunday's hike is a 5.3 mile loop, with 400 feet elevation gain. On the drive home, there is the possibility of a restaurant meal stop, if the covid 19 situation then permits it. Prepaid campsite fees will be shared equitably among all car camp participants, with fees payable by cash or check when we meet on Saturday. The amount each person owes will depend on the number of car camp participants.