Hike of the Week: Deer Ridge

Fields of flowers and panoramic views, the hike to Deer Ridge gives you a good "bang for your buck!"

Deer Ridge

You’ll “fawn” over the views



by Craig Romano
photo by Craig Romano
produced by Michael Fagin

July 29, 2005

Quick Facts
Location: Olympic National Park and Forest
Land Agency: National Park and Forest Service
Roundtrip: 10.4 miles; Short cut option 8.0 miles
Cumulative Elevation gain: 2,800 feet
Access: From Sequim, head west 2.5 miles on US 101. Turn left onto the Taylor Cut-off Road (1st left after crossing the Dungeness River). In 2.6 miles, bear right onto Lost Mountain Road. In another 2.6 miles turn left onto dirt FR 2870. After one mile enter Olympic National Forest and come to a junction. Bear right on FR 2875 and in 3.5 miles come to the primitive Slab Camp. Park here. Trail begins south of camp on west side of road. (Short-cut access begins from an unmarked pull-off on a bend 1.6 miles farther).
Notes: Dogs are prohibited on trail in the national park.
Green Trails Map: Mt Angeles, Wash- No. 135 and Tyler Peak, WA – No.136

You can easily drive to Deer Park via a dirt road from Port Angeles. So why hike this somewhat steep trail? Well, here are five good reasons. One: for access to Deer Park when the road is closed. Two: wildflowers along this trail grow in profusion, in both numbers and varieties. Three: absolute solitude for most of the way. Four: spectacular views of the entire Grey Wolf River Valley and its towering peaks. And five: you’ll earn it all-something you simply don’t do from the seat of a SUV.
The trail starts out gentle enough through a dry Douglas-fir forest, layered with rhododendrons, and carpeted by salal and kinnickinnick. In 1.5 miles an unmarked junction is reached with the “short-cut” trail that lead .5 miles back to the road. Now the way steepens. Pass a spring-the only water source on the trail (after snow melt). Reach an open rib and your first breathtaking views of the Grey Wolf Valley. A bench has been placed here in memory of longtime trail volunteer and Sequim resident, Phil Hall.
Now, through open forest and dry rocky slopes the trail reaches higher. In 3.6 miles enter Olympic National Park. The next 1.6 miles is through some of the most scenic hiking terrain in the Olympics. Through parklands, meadows, and basalt outcroppings, the trail weaves its way to Deer Park, delivering breathtaking views at every bend in its course. Gaze out to barren Baldy and Grey Wolf Peak. Admire the jagged peaks of Mounts Walkinshaw, Clark, Deception, and Mystery-some of the loftiest summits on the Peninsula.
Peer down into the emerald valleys of the Grey Wolf River, and the Grand and Cameron Creeks; to some of the largest concentrations of old-growth forests in the Olympics. And at your feet? Flowers! Find arnica, phlox, pearly everlasting, stonecrop, chocolate lily, paintbrush, columbine, yellow violet, wallflower, buttercup, cinquefoil, rockslide larkspur, and many more.
Turn around at Deer Park and enjoy it all over again.