Snow Creek Trail #890

The road in appeared recently maintained and was better than most Forest Service roads we had been on recently. We found the trail in good shape.  Snow Creek was flowing as much or more than we have ever seen it.   There were a few patches of snow at higher elevations, but I am guessing they will not last through next week.  I took binoculars because the views from the observation rock (roughly 0.5 miles South of the summit) are quite good.  However due to fog the visibility was only 100 yards  at most. 

Deadfall->Snow Creek is a backdoor to Mount Zion. Aptly named the trail flows through dense old-growth. However, the trail to the top was surprisingly clear. A few over and unders but nothing major. Patches of snow start at around 3000' but really are no matter until you connect up with Snow Creek trail. At 3,500' I would advise microspikes/poles for safety. Once you hit the southern ridge at ~4000' keep an eye out to the west for offshoot trails leading to outcrops. It's there views and a good place for lunch can be had. It was plenty quiet the entire hike, very peaceful. I saw only 1 other group. Maybe my expectations were low going in but I found this one a lot more enjoyable than I was anticipating.

The Dead Fall Trail is a longer route to Mt. Zion, and a lot less crowded. I saw no people until I reached the viewpoint just below the true summit. Being a Friday, there were only 8 people and two dogs at the top. And with a sunny, 80-degree day, what more could you ask for? The trail itself starts up right away and has no switchbacks. After about 10 minutes there is a great little spring bubbling out of a hole in the ground to the left and crossing the trail. It's a great place to fill up your bottles for the trip up. It's a fairly dry trek, with only one other real good water source about an hour up the trail. The spring near the summit is stagnant and not potable. After 25 minutes of going up, you then head back down and lose most of the elevation you gained. Bummer. Then you meet up with the Snow Creek trail and start going up for good. Again, no switchbacks, and the trail is moderate to fairly steep on the way up to the ridge. I hit the ridge at about the 1:30 mark or so. The trees thin and there is a small clearing, but no views. From there to the lookout it's a nice 15-20 minute fairly flat walk. The view out to Townsend is awesome! Back on the trail, head to the summit for some peek-a-boo views of Baker and the Sound. Years ago there was a lookout tower here and the views were unobstructed. One of the guys at the summit told me he'd been there 30 years ago and there wasn't a tree in sight. Now they have grown up quite a bit and the view is minimal. My total trail time was 3 hours, 10 minutes. I didn't see any wildlife, except for an angry squirrel barking at me. Bugs were minimal and sunscreen unnecessary since you are in the trees the whole time (except for a few minutes at the viewpoint). The rhodies were starting to bloom at the lower elevations and there was some phlox at the lookout. Not much else in bloom that I noticed.

Trail is in good shape. Two blow downs and a slight dusting of snow. A good change of trail to hike Mt Zion.

Olympic National Forest appears to be developing a network of trails on the northeast part of the forest by converting logging roads to trails and building new trails. The Snow Creek trail is either a new trail or a recently rebuilt trail. It is part of the Pacific Northwest Trail, which from the end of the Larry Scott trail out of Port Townsend has been mostly following roads, including Highway 101, but here becomes a real trail. Directions to the trailhead are available on the ONF website, but here is a quick recap. Take Snow Creek road off 101, which becomes FS Road #2850. Once you enter the Forest, take the second left, Road #2851. Follow this uphill for around 3.5 miles, ignoring the first left then taking the second left instead of going straight on 2851-090. The trail is marked by ribbons a few hundred yards down this left turn. Snow Creek trail is very steep as it ascends through mature forest. There has been some trail work recently, including the installation of numerous drains and a couple of bridges. After about a mile the Deadfall trail comes in from the left. Turn right, uphill, and begin climbing even more steeply. After another mile the gradient lessens and you walk along the Mt. Zion summit ridge. In a half mile or so reach the summit. There are views in several directions from various viewpoints. The trail is in good shape overall with no brush and no downed trees. The main feature of the trail is its steepness--it took me nearly two hours to climb the 2.5 miles to Mt. Zion. Going down took about an hour. This would be a good shoulder season hike, close to Seattle--it was about an hour's drive from the Kingston ferry dock.