Observation Peak — Sunday, Jul. 21, 2024

We hiked the Observation Peak Trail early this morning. Google maps lead us straight to the trail head so we were able to find it very easily. The road coming in from the west (we came over from I-5) was pretty rough in some spots (some deep potholes in the pavement), but I would say it's passable in most cars. I drove in with a Subaru Outback and it was a pretty easy drive. Just make sure to go slow over the larger potholes. Once we got to the gravel road, it was pretty smooth sailing from there - the gravel road was in better condition than the paved road (we thought that was hilarious). We showed up around 8:30am and were the only people there. We only saw one other couple on our way back down.

Once you get to the trailhead, there is a sign that points straight to the trail that makes it extremely hard to miss. Once on the trail, you will run into some overgrowth early on while walking through the burn area (see photo). This continues off and on for about the first 1/2 - 3/4 of a mile. Most of it seemed to be fireweed (super pretty flowers), so nothing itchy, but I was glad to have long sleeves and pants on. The rest of the trail was in great condition! Good enough incline to get your heart and lungs working but nothing too steep.

Pretty quickly into the trail, we also ran into annoying patches of bugs. This continued for most of the trail. The only real relief we got was at the summit. The wind was blowing just enough to keep them away, thank goodness, so we were able to enjoy a bug free snack time at the peak. I would definitely bring bug spray on this one. We came home with lots of itchy bug bites. 

Other than the little annoyances, this trail was great and the views at the summit were amazing (even on a cloudy/hazy day like we had). Even with the clouds, we were able to see Mt. St. Helens, Mt. Adams and Mt. Hood from the peak. I would love to come back on a clear day to see the full views!

Another little detail; our GPS clocked this hike at 5.4 miles total.