I hesitate to give any climb of a Cascade Volcano a less than 5 star rating because they are all unique and spectacular. For this climb, however, I have to go 4 stars not because the the first 1.8 miles are amazingly beautiful and well maintained or because the route is the best marked route of any climb I have done but because of the number of boulder fields. The boulder fields follow the route above tree line but there are multiple trail variations, no consistent path through the boulder fields and there was of course no snow. We were not expecting snow on the route in August but it was the only time we could climb and get a permit (which proved difficult to obtain). If one could do this climb in the early season when the boulder fields would be covered in snow then this would be an easy 5 stars. Without the snow, I think Mt. Adams is a better non-technical mountain in the late summer even though it has more elevation gain. Being able to glissade from the false summit (assuming safety in the glissade chute never takes a holiday) and then walk efficiently down the Crescent Glacier saves more time than the energy expended with the extra altitude and allows you to descend the extra altitude quickly.
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Beautiful. Many ways to get to the falls. Take your time and wonder around through other trails!
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Upper was Super fun with kids. My 5, 7 and 9 r old boys luvved it!
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Although there aren't a lot of wildflowers on this hike, the views of Siouxon Creek and the Waterfalls make it worthwhile.
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This is a superb hike, but be warned: the road getting there isn't just "bad," it's barely even a road. It looks like it has been carpet-bombed in many places. Only really rugged vehicles with high clearance can even make it to the trailhead. If you have just a regular car, like I do, be prepared to park 2 miles down the service road and have an uphill slog to the trailhead.
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stars
stars
4/30/19 It's 3:39am and I am the first car in the lot! This is my first time ever hiking or stopping here. There are two handicap parking spots. The parking lot is riddled with large potholes so take care with your vehicle. There are locked vaulted toilets 100 yards up the dog mountain trail. They were pretty smelly when I got there downward in the am. There is a picnic table. You need a Northwest forrest pass, america the beautiful pass or there is a self service pay station here for $5.00. I hiked 11.95 miles 4387ft elevation gain in 8hrs 9 minutes total time, 6hrs 44 mins moving time. Augspurger trail to Augspurger Ridge to Dog Mountain and down more difficult trail on dog, started at 3:59:30 AM. Augspurger is a beautiful trail (way more easy going and gradual than the more difficult trail on Dog Mountain) mostly forrested and well maintained till you get to the dog mountain trail junction. There was a trail junction on Augspurger at .73 miles in for an Old Loggers Trail that looked overgrown. When you hike down to the valley before the powerlines, expect bushwacking and there are lots of obstacles on the trail. A section of the hike is on powerline roads and can be confusing to navigate, if you do not have a map. There are trail markers on the actual augspurger trails and great signs to point you in the right direction minus the powerline roads junction. I stopped on Augspurger Ridge, great views of the gorge here (I liked it better than Dog, because no one else was up there). This was at 5.13 miles in. I continued on for a bit, but the trail was really overgrown beyond the ridge to the summit, so I decided to save that for another day. On the way back headed up Dog Mountain trail via Augsburger. (very nice trail in the forrest till you are at the ridge on the side of Dog mountain.) Small trails on the ridge. The true lookout didn't have much of a view, but the first lookout has beautiful safe seating and spacious. Take care on your steps down from here. The dirt on the trail is slick. If you prefer a gradual descent and are using a map take the long way down dog (the difficult trail). Unbeknowst to me I took the more difficult trail down (there are no signs on top that tell you, which trail is more hard.) The more difficult trail is 2.98 brutally steep miles. The dirt is slippery until you get to the forrest. From the time I started to 10am (10am I was on dog mountain trail via augspurger) I saw nor heard no one on the trail for the first 6hrs of my hike. An almost full parking lot on a Tuesday early afternoon I think most cars were carrying a car load, because I saw and stopped for a ton of people and dogs on the way down. A couple of trail junctions on the more difficult dog trail. Saw very little trash on trail and about half of the dogs I saw were leashed. Very small sporadic wild flower sightings. Lots of trillium in the forrests. If you are coming to dog at this time of year for wildflowers, I think it is still too early. Come here for a great thigh burning workout. A couple of areas on highway 14 for road work one right in front of dog mountain trailhead takes highway down to one lane so expect some waiting. Another at beacon rock area, all on my way out. Saw two police cruisers speed checking highway 14, one at North Bonnevile on the straight part. One closer to Washougal, WA. Also saw no rattlers and had no Ticks on myself at the end of the day. Lots of bugs in the more lush areas where you can tell there is underground water running. I did not see any children on this trail and would not recommend this trail for any child that is not experienced.
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stars
4/30/19 It's 3:39am and I am the first car in the lot! This is my first time ever hiking or stopping here. There are two handicap parking spots. The parking lot is riddled with large potholes so take care with your vehicle. There are locked vaulted toilets 100 yards up the dog mountain trail. They were pretty smelly when I got there downward in the am. There is a picnic table. You need a Northwest forrest pass, america the beautiful pass or there is a self service pay station here for $5.00. I hiked 11.95 miles 4387ft elevation gain in 8hrs 9 minutes total time, 6hrs 44 mins moving time. Augspurger trail to Augspurger Ridge to Dog Mountain and down more difficult trail on dog, started at 3:59:30 AM. Augspurger is a beautiful trail (way more easy going and gradual than the more difficult trail on Dog Mountain) mostly forrested and well maintained till you get to the dog mountain trail junction. There was a trail junction on Augspurger at .73 miles in for an Old Loggers Trail that looked overgrown. When you hike down to the valley before the powerlines, expect bushwacking and there are lots of obstacles on the trail. A section of the hike is on powerline roads and can be confusing to navigate, if you do not have a map. There are trail markers on the actual augspurger trails and great signs to point you in the right direction minus the powerline roads junction. I stopped on Augspurger Ridge, great views of the gorge here (I liked it better than Dog, because no one else was up there). This was at 5.13 miles in. I continued on for a bit, but the trail was really overgrown beyond the ridge to the summit, so I decided to save that for another day. On the way back headed up Dog Mountain trail via Augsburger. (very nice trail in the forrest till you are at the ridge on the side of Dog mountain.) Small trails on the ridge. The true lookout didn't have much of a view, but the first lookout has beautiful safe seating and spacious. Take care on your steps down from here. The dirt on the trail is slick. If you prefer a gradual descent and are using a map take the long way down dog (the difficult trail). Unbeknowst to me I took the more difficult trail down (there are no signs on top that tell you, which trail is more hard.) The more difficult trail is 2.98 brutally steep miles. The dirt is slippery until you get to the forrest. From the time I started to 10am (10am I was on dog mountain trail via augspurger) I saw nor heard no one on the trail for the first 6hrs of my hike. An almost full parking lot on a Tuesday early afternoon I think most cars were carrying a car load, because I saw and stopped for a ton of people and dogs on the way down. A couple of trail junctions on the more difficult dog trail. Saw very little trash on trail and about half of the dogs I saw were leashed. Very small sporadic wild flower sightings. Lots of trillium in the forrests. If you are coming to dog at this time of year for wildflowers, I think it is still too early. Come here for a great thigh burning workout. A couple of areas on highway 14 for road work one right in front of dog mountain trailhead takes highway down to one lane so expect some waiting. Another at beacon rock area, all on my way out. Saw two police cruisers speed checking highway 14, one at North Bonnevile on the straight part. One closer to Washougal, WA. Also saw no rattlers and had no Ticks on myself at the end of the day. Didn't see any children on the trail and wouldn't recommend this hike for children unless they are experienced. Lots of bugs in the more lush areas where you can tell there is underground water running.
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stars
Up at 2:30am, we signed in at the trail register at 4am (mandatory to do this, as well as carrying the permit you were issued ahead of time). Got to the summit around 10am, with a few gear adjustments and snack breaks on the way up. Weather changes quickly so come prepared for anything. If you're going to glissade please research proper techniques as we saw many people who were holding their axe in ways that could have caused horrific injuries. You do not want the pick of the axe in your thigh or chest!
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stars
Hiked this trail 2/18/19. Trail is in good condition with a few trees over the trail and snow starting in the forrest and growing to a foot or more on the ridge. Trail was packed down snow from previous hikers. Snow had iced over in the forrest and on the ridge in the morning, so microspikes and trekking poles are helpful. I got to the upper lot at 7:00 am and at 7:10am they opened the gate to the parking area. There is parking on the side of the road from the upper lot if you want to go early before they open the gate. The upper lot has plenty of great parking, but no bathrooms. There is a picnic area down the hill from the parking area.
Saw a ton of people as I was making my descent, which was expected for a holiday weekend for most people on a Monday. I was the first one in the lot and on the trail.
Also hiked this trail 3/25/19 got pretty close to cedar falls on the map. Very little snow left. Hiked not far from cedar falls. Arrived early and parked on dirt lot on the side of the main road. Across from the road to yacolt, WA.
Both times started at moultan falls.
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We camped at the Marble Mountain Sno-Park parking lot the night before and started our ascent on the Worm Flows Winter trail at 4:15 AM. We began the hike with micro spikes and did not take them off for the duration of the trip. The moon was bright but we still used our headlamps until about 5:45 when the sunrise was bright enough to light the path. After timberline, we were above the clouds and the sunrise was absolutely stunning. After reaching the "permit required" at about 3 miles up, it was a stair stepping climb of 5,500 feet to the summit. There is a false summit and only 650 feet more of elevation gain until the true summit. We were lucky to go on a sunny day with footholds in a majority of the snow pack up. Wear sunscreen!
We reached the summit at 9:30 AM. The views were well worth the climb and there was a cornice that we needed to be careful of but otherwise, there were views of Adams, Hoood, and Rainier in addition the astounding layer of clouds and peeping holes of the mountains/lakes below. We had never tried glissading but once we got the hang of it, it was by far the easiest way down. Be sure to bring waterproof pants and an ice axe but due to the steep grade of the trail on snow/ice, walking would have been much more dangerous. There were TONS of hikers/skiers ascending as the snow started to soften during our descent and we were grateful to have started early enough where the snow was hard and easy to trek across. After glissading down 6,000 feet or so, we walked the additional 2 miles back to the parking lot and returned at 1:45 PM.
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The day we went had low level clouds covering the mountain top above about 1800 feet so no views. The date was April 17 which is about two weeks early for what will be the main Balsolm root bloom as buds were just showing. There were plenty of yellow bells, bleeding hearts and red currants among other varieties. The trail had lots of recent rain so was slippery but manageable.
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My trip started from the Hantwick Road Trailhead. This wide trail is popular with runners, bikers and horses, so expect heavy use in the summer. A paved path turns into gravel about a half mile in. Road noise can be heard from Lucia Falls Road on the other side of the river where there are homes/cabins. On this trip we saw newts crossing the trail and heard frogs in the large pond. The trail is relatively flat. There appears to be a fair amount of water flowing over Moulton Falls this time of year. We continued over to Yacolt Falls. The steel walk bridge was not connected to complete the loop.
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Great hike. I love it on a clear day when you can see the 5 peaks (St Helens, Rainier, Adams, Hood and Jefferson). Enjoys the water and Hidden Falls on the Tarbell portion. Go through some clear cut sections on Tarbell and reminds you that our state forests provide for us. On the Chinook trail portion you see the former roadway that was used to support the lookout that once stood on Silver Star Mountain.
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Always a great, challenging hike. Nothing technical when done in summer/early fall. Make sure to bring plenty of water as there are no water sources. If it is going to be a hot day try to start as early as possible. Once the sun rises the upper stretches can be brutal in the heat.
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