Length
Elevation Gain
From the Grouse Vista Trailhead, take the left fork onto the Tarbell Trail. This beautifully-graded trail winds through second-growth forest and a timber harvest area. Look out for bikes along the way; you'll likely see a couple or at least some other hikers.
After about 2.5 miles from the trailhead you will arrive at another junction. A wooden sign here states Sturgeon Rock and Silver Star. Brace yourself; here's where the climbing really gets going.
From the turnoff on the beautifully-graded Tarbell Trail the Sturgeon Rock trail is a gnarly, steep, rock-strewn roadbed with branches drooping overhead, making for a fun game of duck and weave as you trudge uphill.
Thankfully, the way heads into forest, so you'll get a bit of shade as respite and luckily it doesn't take long to plateau out in a small meadow. Here, a footpath branches off to the left where you can access Sturgeon Rock itself before turning around to head back down (the trail to the top of Sturgeon deadends at the top -- you won't be able to get down the east side of the rock).
If you're continuing on, it's about another 3/4 of a mile to a connection with the Silver Star trail, which you can use to access the Silver Star summit, Ed's Trail, or Bluff Mountain. Alternatively, you could do a lollipop loop with the Pyramid Rock trail, eventually returning back to the Grouse Vista trailhead.
Trailhead
