Big Summer Plans: 3 Areas WTA is Excited to Work in 2023

We’re excited for warmer months in the mountains: not just because we get to hike on trails, but because we get to work on trails! Our partnerships with land managers and other trail organizations enables our volunteer and professional crews to work for longer perods, in more areas. Some of our biggest projects this year are on iconic trails and remote areas alike. Our work along the Mountain Loop Highway, in the Naches Ranger District and around Silver Star Mountain will empower hikers to take to trails for seasons to come.

Schneider Springs Fire Recovery

WTA's Lost Trails Found crews will be doing a lot of fire recovery work this summer in the Naches area. Photo by Megan Lawrence.

WTA’s Lost Trails Found crews have an exciting summer ahead of them. The Naches Ranger District has signed an agreement with WTA to support our Lost Trails Found program. They’re providing $250,000 to support work in 2023 and 2024. The goal is to open up a total of 50 miles of trail in the Naches Ranger District by the end of the 2024 season. 

• Meet the crew
• Learn more about the folks who will be working on our Lost Trails Found crews this summer. 

Our goals of clearing 25 miles of trail in a season, in addition to other projects across the state, are ambitious. This season’s work in the Schneider Springs burn zone will take a bulk of our crews’ time this summer, stretching from June-October. Projects including dozens of logouts, brush and tread work.

The Schneider Springs fire, which started from a lightning storm in August of 2021, burned over 100,000 acres of National Forest Service and Washington Department of Natural Resources land. Burn scars persist for years after a fire has gone out, meaning hazardous hiking conditions for visitors to the forest.

This work is funded via the United States Forest Service’s Disaster Relief Funding, which was designed to address damage caused by wildfires, floods and other extreme weather events experienced in recent years.The collaboration and funding we’ve received with the United States Forest Service is invaluable in our efforts to support Washington's backcountry trails.

Mountain Loop Highway

WTA crews and volunteers will spend a total of 26 days working on the trail to Gothic Basin. Photo by Joshua Y. Lee.

WTA is also excited to be an integral part of some on-the-ground revitalization work on the Mountain Loop Highway after 3 years of planning and strategizing. 

• Make friends and learn new skills
• Don’t miss out on the fun! Joining a WTA work party is a great way to care for our public lands and meet others in the hiking community.

Thanks in part to funding from the Great American Outdoors Act, several popular trails on the Mountain Loop will be closed for the season as they receive much-needed maintenance or the roads leading to them are improved. But one trail that will be open all season is Gothic Basin, and we’ve got 26 days of trail work scheduled there!

Gothic Basin was originally a social trail, meaning it wasn’t laid out by a trail crew. Miners created it trying to get to the basin. As recently as 2023, archaeologists have found evidence of mining activity there. Now it’s one of Washington’s most popular trails, and it needs a ton of work to make the route sustainable. 

Crews will be working on the Weden Creek Trail, which is the lower section of the Gothic Basin Trail. 

Our Lost Trails Found crew will head out first, and will be there for 16 days. The Lost Trails Found crew is working on improving the trail to the basin, to be followed up by two volunteer crews for an additional 10 days of work. This project is a neat opportunity where our pro crews will lay the foundation for work that volunteers will follow up on. It will all culminate in a better trail for hikers to use in the future. 

Silver Star

WTA volunteers have already been working at Silver Star this season, and more crews will be back for more work soon. Photo by James Alexander. 

Silver Star is an area where WTA has been working for a long time — both on the ground and in helping to create a long-term vision for the area. On the ground, our work has included building the 3-mile Silver Shadow trail that made a lovely 5-mile loop possible and the 3-mile Appaloosa Trail. 

• Get an idea of where we work
• Use WTA’s Hike Finder Map to understand which regions we’re working in this year, to track new hikes for the future and to plan your next adventure.

We’ll be continuing that work this summer. WTA has already been working on Ed’s Trail. We’ll also be working on the Tarbell Trail from the Grouse Vista trailhead. A section of that trail turns into a stream on rainy days. We’ll be making improvements to get water off the trail and make a safe, more pleasant hiking experience. 

Silver Star Mountain, and the ridges adjacent to it, offers some of the most spectacular vistas in the region. On a clear day, you can see five Cascade volcanoes and if the time is right, you'll be surrounded by wildflowers. And the area is unique because you can get an alpine experience starting at a relatively low 3,000 feet  (rather than closer to 4,500 feet in many areas) because the Yacolt Burn fire early in the 20th century that burnt the forest cover but left behind extensive meadows. Keep an eye out for more information on the future of this area later this summer. 

We’re excited for each of these projects — and for all of the work we’re doing on trails across the state. We hope you’ll visit the areas we've worked and, if you do, report back on trail conditions in a trip report.