The Queets River flows from the Olympics to the Pacific Ocean through a valley that is narrow near the river’s headwaters but broadens considerably in its middle course. A large part of the watershed is drained by three tributaries that flow parallel to each other and enter the river from the southeast: Matheny Creek, Sams River, and Tshletshy Creek. They, in turn, are paralleled by three ridges—Matheny, Sams, and Tshletshy—that separate them from each other and from the Queets River. The Queets-Quinault Divide, lying between the Queets and Quinault, marks the eastern and southern limits of the valley in the mountains; the Mount Olympus Range and Kloochman Ridge define the northern and western boundaries.
The glaciers and snowfields that encircle the wild, subalpine Queets Basin are the source of the Queets River. Meltwater from three glaciers (the Queets on Mount Queets, and the Humes and Jeffers on Mount Olympus), together with that contributed by the snowfields below Dodwell-Rixon Pass, combine to form the river, one of the largest on the peninsula.
The Queets Valley has the typical U shape that results from glaciation. However, where the river exits from the Queets Basin, it has cut a narrow canyon, 100 to 200 feet deep, in the black sandstone. Below the canyon, the valley floor is broad and level. As in the Hoh Valley, the bottomlands are covered with spruce-hemlock rain forest, and the mountainsides on either side rise steeply upward, heavy with western hemlock and silver fir.
The Queets is famous as a steelhead stream, but equally renowned for salmon as well as cutthroat and rainbow trout. Consequently, anglers come from near and far to try their luck. Yet that part of the valley accessible by the Queets Trail is essentially wilderness. Because hikers must wade the Queets River in order to reach the trail, plus the fact the path goes little more than half way from the road’s end to the Queets Basin, visitors are fewer here than in most Olympic valleys. Accordingly, one is more likely to experience solitude. In fact, it is the policy of the National Park Service to keep this valley wild, as one place where the adventurous can face the challenge of primitive country. Consequently, it is more or less reserved for the experienced backpacker, in contrast to the Hoh and Quinault Valleys, which are readily accessible.
The Queets Valley was first explored in 1890, when the party Lieutenant Joseph O’Neil sent to Mount Olympus followed the river from that peak to the sea.
Queets River Road. All trails in the Queets Valley are reached via the Queets River Road, which begins on the Olympic Highway, US 101, 18.0 mi/29.0 km west of Lake Quinault, 7.0 mi/11.3 km east of Queets, a village on the Quinault Indian Reservation. The road follows the river through the Queets Corridor of Olympic National Park. Throughout its length the road is in the bottomlands.
Upon entering the national park (0.5 mi/0.8 km), the road goes through luxuriant rain forest. The Queets Valley was settled in the 1890s, and fifty years ago several stump ranches existed along this stretch of the river. After Olympic National Park was created in 1938, the government condemned a strip of land on both sides of the river, then added it to the park in 1953 as the Queets Corridor. The idea behind this action was to preserve one river valley on the peninsula from the mountains to the sea, but the forced removal of the people from the land created much bitterness, which has filtered down to some extent in succeeding generations.
At one point, where the road edges the river’s banks (2.1 mi/3.4 km), the motorist has a good view, looking upstream, of snow-clad Mount Olympus, almost 30 miles distant.
Information can be obtained at the Queets Ranger Station (12.4 mi/20.0 km), which is staffed only during the summer. Queets Campground (13.4 mi/21.6 km), located in a stand of giant spruce, has the usual accommodations, with excellent sites adjacent to the river. The largest trees in the campground exceed 10 feet in diameter.
A particularly fine example of Sitka spruce stands about 60 feet south of the Queets River Road, just beyond the second entrance to the campground. The tree is almost 14 feet in diameter at the height of a man’s chest and is quite tall, with a beautiful, vigorous crown.
The road ends at a small parking area just below the point where Sams River flows into the Queets (13.6 mi/21.9 km; 290 ft/88 m).
Length 3.0 mi/4.8 km
Access Queets River Road
USGS Map Salmon River East
Agency Olympic National Park
The only trail in the Queets Corridor, this loop begins about 100 yards west of the entrance to the Queets Campground (290 ft/88 m), on the north side of the road. The path goes through a mix of scenes: stands of virgin timber, second-growth forest, and old fields that years ago were pioneer homesteads. During weekdays one can hear logging trucks operating in the distance.
The trail meanders back and forth in the narrow strip between road and river. At first it goes through stands of spruce, hemlock, and fir, then crosses, in succession, a field, a bottom overgrown with alder and evergreens, and another meadow. The Queets Ranger Station (1.2 mi/1.9 km; 270 ft/82 m) is located just beyond the second meadow.
At this point the trail crosses the road, and it then heads back toward the campground, alternating between forest and field. The trees are now all second growth, mostly hemlock and spruce, with big stumps of the old trees standing like specters among them. Lined by alders, the path next follows an old roadbed across the river bottom and enters a large field, where gnarled apple and cherry trees remind one that this was once the site of a pioneer family’s orchard.
Beyond this field the hiker finds the trail’s most interesting feature—clumps of vine maple that, looking like huge lilac bushes, arch their limbs over the trail to create a tunnel effect. They are followed by a stand of large alders. The trees are tall for this species, their white-barked trunks curving upward like coconut palms. The whiteness is due to the presence of lichen. A conelike knoll covered with hemlocks rises to the right.
The trail goes through a stand of spruce, then intersects the unmarked Sams River Trail (2.7 mi/4.3 km; 300 ft/91 m), which is almost obliterated by brush and forest debris. The balance of the loop (actually the first part of the Sams River Trail) goes through typical rain forest near Sams River, where it is bordered by salmonberry bushes higher than one’s head. Here the hiker can see Kloochman Rock squatting atop the ridge and looking out over the valley like the taciturn Indian wife from which it takes its name.
The trail terminates at the end of the Queets River Road (3.0 mi/4.8 km; 290 ft/88 m).
Abandoned trail, no longer maintained
Length 12.0 mi/19.3 km
Access Queets River Road
USGS Maps Salmon River East; Matheny Ridge; Kloochman Rock; Finley Creek
Agencies Olympic National Park and Olympic National Forest
The boundary between the national park and the national forest follows Sams River from its confluence with the Queets River to a point about 5 miles upstream. The boundary then leaves the river and extends along the crest of Sams Ridge between Sams River and Tshletshy Creek. Once a good trout fishing stream, the Sams has been badly damaged by silt because the land has been disturbed by extensive logging and a forest fire in the Olympic National Forest.
The Sams River Trail alternately traverses national park and national forest lands as it crosses back and forth from one side of the river to the other. Consequently, neither agency desires to undertake its maintenance, and it has become more or less an orphan, abandoned and suffering from neglect. No work has been done on it for several decades, and the path is virtually nonexistent today in many places. This is especially true in rain forest glades and where the path has been obliterated by logging. However, several remaining fragments of the trail are in fair condition.
The beginning of the trail, at the end of the Queets River Road (290 ft/88 m), coincides with part of the Queets Campground Loop Trail. This section goes through luxuriant rain forest, then comes out onto the banks of Sams River, where one can see Kloochman Rock across the Queets. The trail then forks (0.3 mi/0.5 km; 300 ft/92 m), but the division point is not marked. The obvious path leading right is a continuation of the loop trail; the Sams River Trail goes left, but it is very faint—in fact, easily overlooked. Bushes and the limbs of young trees encroach on both sides and obscure the ground.
Keeping close to Sams River, the route goes first on one side of the stream, then the other, to take advantage of the alder bottoms and glades. Here the trail has largely disappeared, but the observant hiker will see a cut log now and then. Because the bits of path lack continuity, it is easier to ignore them and strike out cross-country as far as the mouth of the First Canyon (3.0 mi/4.8 km; 500 ft/152 m).
At this point the trail crosses to the river’s north side, which is in the national park. The canyon itself, which is about a mile long, is not negotiable except during low water because the swift, rushing stream extends to the rock walls on either side. Within the gorge, just above its mouth, anglers will find a deep, beautiful pool where steelhead can sometimes be observed lurking in the shadows.
The trail makes a gradual, ascending traverse above the canyon. Were it not for the occasional cut logs, and a switchback or two, one would not suspect that the path was man-made, because the route is blocked by countless windfalls, rotten logs, and thick brush. Nevertheless, it penetrates a magnificent stand of giant Douglas-firs, great trees that make an indelible imprint upon the mind.
Near the head of the canyon the national park boundary leaves the river. At this point (4.5 mi/7.2 km; 650 ft/198 m) the trail goes back into the national forest and does not again enter the national park. Here it meanders across beautiful rain forest glades, and one can look across the Sams and note that the timber has been logged right down to the stream’s banks, a forestry practice that is frowned upon today.
(On the river’s south side, opposite the trail and somewhat downstream, the hiker will find an elk hunters’ camp near the remains of a trapper’s cabin. The hunters once had a cable-and-bucket spanning the Sams at this point, which they used to transport elk killed illegally in the national park, north of the river. A good trail leads steeply down to the camp from a logging road about a third of a mile distant to the south.)
On the river’s north bank, Camp Phillips occupies the site of the old Sams River Shelter (5.0 mi/8.0 km; 600 ft/183 m). At one time a makeshift structure—probably fashioned from the remnants of the shelter—was located here beneath a leaning cedar tree, but nothing remains today.
Beyond this camp the trail approaches a steep slide and waterfall, and in order to avoid the barrier the path crosses to the river’s south bank, where it remains, briefly, until it approaches the mouth of the Second Canyon. Here it returns to the river’s north side and continues to alder bottoms above the Second Canyon, then crosses again to the river’s south bank and follows that side.
The trail then intersects FS Road 2422–500, which bridges the river just above the Third Canyon (8.0 mi/12.9 km; 900 ft/274 m). Beyond the road the trail has been obliterated for about 2 miles by fire, which occurred in conjunction with logging. Near the far end of the burned area, the route again crosses to the river’s north bank (which now is in the national forest). The new Sams River Shelter which stood here (10.0 mi/16.1 km; 1000 ft/305 m) was destroyed by the fire.
At the lower end of the Fourth Canyon, about a half mile beyond this site, the trail leaves the logged and burned area and enters the virgin forest. Here the path parallels the north bank of the Sams. The box canyon extends approximately a mile, and at its head a 20-foot waterfall drops vertically. The trail then ends abruptly on the side of a bank (ca. 12.0 mi/19.3 km; 1400 ft/427 m) near the national park boundary. The original plan called for extending the trail to a junction with the old Finley Peak Trail, another 3 or 4 miles, intersecting with that route near Lilly Lake.
The huge pool at the base of the waterfall cannot be reached by going up the canyon. One must climb out of the gorge, traverse upriver several hundred feet, then descend the steep wall while clinging to a rope tied to a tree. The falls are a barrier to the upward migration of fish, and at times the pool contains large numbers of them.
Length 15.4 mi/24.8 km
Access Queets River Road
USGS Maps Stequaleho; Salmon River East; Kloochman Rock; Bob Creek
Agency Olympic National Park
This valley trail was originally a path used by the Indians when they traveled up the Queets River to hunt elk. After George Shaube took a claim on the upper Queets in the early 1920s, he improved and maintained the trail for the Forest Service. The trail follows the Queets River about half way to its headwaters. The Queets Basin, at the valley’s head, can be reached by traveling cross-country beyond the trail’s end, but it is approached more easily from other directions.
The trail begins on the river’s north bank, opposite the end of the Queets River Road (280 ft/85 m). Consequently, in order to reach the trail one must ford the Queets (and sometimes the Sams as well, because the best place to cross varies from year to year). The river can be forded safely in late summer or autumn, after the snows have melted and before the fall rains have begun; but at other times it is deep and treacherous. The hiker should carry a couple of stout poles (one in each hand, to brace against the current) and wear boots or tennis shoes with rough soles because the current is swift and strong, the water cold, and the bottom covered with slippery rocks.
The almost level trail meanders through splendid rain forests where giant spruce, hemlock, and bigleaf maples garlanded with mosses tower above a jungle of vine maple. Elk frequent the valley, grazing in the forest glades, and often the hiker can hear the bugling of the bulls. The trail crosses a field overgrown with bracken fern and thistle, where a large barn (1.6 mi/2.6 km; 375 ft/114 m) stood for many years, but finally succumbed to the elements. This was the John Andrews ranch, originally the Hunter homestead. Kloochman Rock is visible from the field, appearing as a dark knob perched atop a steep, timbered mountain. The trail then winds among bell-bottomed spruces to a junction with the Kloochman Rock Trail at Coal Creek (2.3 mi/3.7 km; 350 ft/107 m).
At the Lower Tshletshy Ford (3.9 mi/6.3 km; 400 ft/122 m), the river may be crossed, but the Tshletshy Creek Trail is still more than a mile distant. The Queets Trail now turns north and traverses dense forest to Spruce Bottom (4.9 mi/7.9 km; 426 ft/130 m), a camp located among big spruce trees. This is a popular spot with backpackers, and dedicated fishermen have been known to catch large steelhead in the deep pools. Although the distance from the road is not great, the place is isolated because many people are afraid to ford the river. The quiet is unbroken save for the mesmeric roar of the Queets.
The trail then follows a slope high above the Queets, only to return to the bottomland and a junction with the Tshletshy Creek Trail (5.6 mi/9.0 km; 480 ft/146 m), which leads to the Upper Tshletshy Ford.
Fording the Queets
After climbing up and down as it crosses spurs at the base of Kloochman Rock, the trail closely follows the Queets River and once again traverses level bottomland. Here the path meanders among grotesque bigleaf maples festooned with mosses.
The trail crosses Bear Creek, skirts the gravel bars opposite Tshletshy Creek, then enters Harlow Bottom (7.5 mi/12.1 km; 500 ft/152 m), which was named for two Indians, Frank and Ben Harlow. This flat, embracing perhaps 1200 acres, extends along the river about 3 miles, almost to Bob Creek, and has a maximum width approaching a mile. Harlow Creek, one of the larger streams entering the Queets from the north, flows across the middle. The bottom has splendid stands of Sitka spruce (perhaps the finest on the peninsula today), as well as large Douglas-fir and red cedar. The trees rise above an understory of alder and maple (both vine and bigleaf) cloaked with heavy growths of selaginella, ferns, and mosses. Most of the conifers are 6 to 9 feet in diameter, with heights that approach 300 feet. The largest ones are about 13 feet in diameter.
The trail leaves Harlow Bottom after crossing Camp Creek. At Bob Creek Camp (11.0 mi/17.7 km; 580 ft/177 m), the shelter built in 1929 by Wilbur Northup and George Shaube was destroyed by snow in the late 1970s. The flood-plain on the river’s north side narrows above this camp, and the trail cuts along the face of a bluff, then switchbacks down to the stream, only to climb another bluff. The river washes against its base, where deposits of glacial outwash are exposed. The bottomland widens again in the vicinity of Paradise Creek, and the trail ends at Pelton Creek Shelter (15.4 mi/24.8 km; 800 ft/244 m), which stands opposite the point where Pelton Creek flows into the Queets from the south.
One can, of course, proceed beyond the trail’s end. This is an exciting route to approach Mount Olympus, but it should be attempted only by experienced, well-equipped backpackers adept at cross-country travel.
Abandoned trail, no longer maintained
Length 3.4 mi/5.5 km
Access Queets Trail
USGS Map Kloochman Rock
Agency Olympic National Park; Department of Natural Resources, State of Washington
Kloochman Rock rises more than a half mile above the Queets River bottomlands and provides an outstanding vista of the surrounding country. The peak is heavily timbered except for the outcrop of black sandstone that caps the summit like a cupola. The word Kloochman means “wife” or “woman” in the language of the coast Indians. The peak is called Boulder Hill on old maps.
The trail from the Queets River to Kloochman Rock, used for years by fire lookouts, was abandoned in the mid-1970s and is no longer maintained. Hikers frequently report that they cannot find evidence of the old trail, despite the fact that abandoned paths usually take longer than two decades to disappear, even in the Olympic rain forest. Nevertheless, Kloochman Rock is considered to be inaccessible from the Queets Trail today. Only the toughest and most determined, most dedicated cross-country travelers are equal to the task of following the original route. The old trail is of sufficient historic interest, however, to justify its description here—in the present tense, in order to give hikers a feel for the route as it once was.
The trail to the rock begins on the valley floor (350 ft/107 m), branching left from the Queets Trail at Coal Creek. Near the trail’s beginning, a side path leads left to the Queets Fir, the largest known Douglas-fir. This tree is believed to be at least a thousand years old, double the age of most trees in the valley. The massive trunk is more than 14 feet thick at chest height. The original height is unknown because the top is broken off more than 200 feet above the ground. Apparently this tree is the lone survivor of an ancient stand of fir that has been replaced by hemlock in the natural succession of species.
The Queets Fir was the center of a friendly controversy between Oregon and Washington in 1962, when Oregon officials contended that the Clatsop Fir, near Seaside, was larger. An impartial panel of foresters measured the trees. Final figures gave the Queets tree the greater bulk (14,065 cubic feet of wood to 10,095) and height (202 feet to 200.5 feet), but the Oregon tree had the greater diameter (15.5 feet compared to 14.5 feet). Less than three months later a storm toppled the Clatsop Fir.
Unwilling to give up the crown, Oregon found a new contender in 1975—Finnegan’s Fir, near Coos Bay—which turned out to be 302 feet tall and slightly over 13 feet in diameter. Less than six months after it was declared the new champion, Finnegan’s Fir was shattered by violent winds. Surely, it seems, the gods on Olympus protect their own.
Winding through hemlock forest, the trail crosses Coal Creek, the last place where water can be obtained. Huckleberries are abundant at various points along the trail. Beyond the creek the path switchbacks up the mountain, a seemingly endless climb through forests of western hemlock and silver fir. Eventually, however, one reaches the base of the rocky summit, and after a brief scramble attains the top (3.4 mi/5.5 km; 3356 ft/1023 m). Here a wooden helicopter platform has replaced the fire lookout cabin that stood atop the peak for many years.
Lookout cabins have gone the way of the great auk because airplanes are now used to spot forest fires. The helicopter pad was built by the Department of Natural Resources, with the approval of the National Park Service, in connection with its logging operations on state lands adjoining the national park. The structure has no place in a national park and should be removed; it is an intrusion on the natural scene.
Until the late 1960s, about thirty years after the national park was created, the vista from Kloochman Rock was probably unrivaled in the United States for virgin forests untouched by either forest fires or logging operations. One looked out upon an unbroken panorama of hemlock-covered mountains. But this is no longer true. Although the fires never came, the loggers did, and the visitor who knew Kloochman as it once was cannot but be saddened by the change. The country visible from the rock does not encompass a true circle but an irregular area due to intervening ridges and peaks that block the view in certain directions. Of the approximately 400,000 acres visible from the peak, at least 75 percent lie outside the national park, and in the 1960s logging operations began to invade this region—on national forest lands to the south, on state lands to the north and west. Now dozens of clearcuts are visible where formerly one saw an untouched sea of virgin forest.
Nonetheless, the view is spectacular because the area within the national park is still unspoiled. The bottomlands along the Queets, 3000 feet below, are clothed with virgin fir and spruce, and the braided channels of the meandering river flow through the forest like intertwined silver ribbons. Mount Olympus and Mount Tom, and the snowy peaks adjacent to Queets Basin, 20 miles distant, loom above the timbered foothills. The whole sweep of the Queets Valley east of Kloochman Rock is an unbroken expanse of beautiful forest.
To reach Kloochman Rock today, drive to Clearwater, Washington, then to Yahoo Lake in State Sustained Yield Forest No. 1, also known as the Bert Cole Forest. The roads beyond the lake are closed, therefore one is obliged to walk about 4 miles (via FS Roads C3100 and C3180, the latter being a spur). A so-called way trail begins at the end of C3180, but it is more like a scrambler’s route. The ascent takes from forty minutes to an hour, and one must watch carefully for blazes marking the route. Ropes dangle down in difficult places, put there to assist climbers, but they are old and weathered and should not be trusted.
Abandoned trail, no longer maintained
Length 16.2 mi/26.1 km
Access Queets Trail
USGS Maps Bunch Lake; Kimta Peak; Bob Creek; Kloochman Rock
Agency Olympic National Park
This trail has been abandoned by the National Park Service and has not been maintained for years, thus it is overgrown with brush and often blocked by windfalls, making it difficult to follow. Therefore it is truly a wilderness route, one that should not be attempted by anyone who is not experienced at cross-country travel.
The trail was built in the 1920s for the Forest Service by George Shaube, with a six-man crew. The route branches right from the Queets Trail 5.6 mi/9.0 km above the Queets River Road and follows Tshletshy Creek—a steelhead and salmon stream—to the Queets-Quinault Divide, crossing the stream eleven times. The route traverses splendid stands of old-growth forest, and it is a good place to see wildlife. Elk and bear frequent this remote, seldom-visited valley, and the hiker will also see lesser denizens of the forest. Bird life is varied, and the harlequin ducks that nest along the stream are so unaccustomed to seeing people that one can approach them closely.
Leaving the Queets Trail (480 ft/146 m), the path winds among big spruce trees to the Upper Tshletshy Ford, where the route crosses the Queets River, which at this point is broad and comparatively shallow. Nevertheless, the crossing requires caution, and one should not attempt it when the river is high. During late summer and fall, the greatest depth is normally about thirty inches. One should carry a couple of poles and lean against the current.
A small cabin stands in the meadow on the far side. This is the Smith Place (0.2 mi/0.3 km; 460 ft/140 m). More properly, it should be called the Shaube Place, because it was homesteaded by George Shaube in 1923. The cabin he built consisted of what is now the kitchen; the living room was added later. About 1932 Shaube sold the claim to Oscar Smith, who used the cabin as a hunting lodge rather than a permanent residence. Eventually, the cabin became known as Smith Place.
Beyond the cabin the trail enters what might well be called the forest primeval. For the next half mile, between the clearing and Tshletshy Creek, the trail penetrates what is unquestionably one of the finest stands of old-growth Douglas-fir and western red cedar in the Olympics. The colossal firs, many 7 to 9 feet in diameter, rise to great heights, possibly 300 feet or more.
The path is difficult to find as it approaches Tshletshy Creek (0.8 mi/1.3 km; 480 ft/146 m), where the trail makes the first of eleven crossings. (The others are miles beyond this point, and the creek is not visible between this crossing and the next.) The creek bed is choked with boulders, logs, and debris from winter floods. Unless one can find a log across, it is a case of wade, although the stream is usually not deep after July.
The forests along Tshletshy Creek consist of stands of Douglas-fir, Sitka spruce, red cedar, and western hemlock. Beneath the big trees, little hemlocks and sharp-needled spruces grow in such thick stands that the trail is often hidden. The hiker has to force a passage through, and when the trees and brush are wet one receives a shower bath with every step. But the real barrier to progress is not the overgrown trail but the countless windfalls that have occurred over the years at various points along the trail. The logs are large and have not been cut out, making them difficult to climb over and under.
After crossing Tshletshy Creek, the trail leaves the river bottom and climbs on terraces, where the route parallels the creek as it goes between a spur of Sams Ridge and The Chocolate Drop, a conelike hill (1754 ft/535 m) that rises from the Queets bottoms. Then, after traversing the edge of another terrace or big flat, the trail enters the canyon and contours the base of Tshletshy Ridge. The creek roars mightily in the depths of the narrow gorge, which lies between Tshletshy Ridge and Sams Ridge.
As it traverses the canyon’s side, the trail climbs gradually and crosses numerous side streams. The forest is impressive—many big cedars, firs, and spruces are mixed among the ubiquitous hemlock. Gradually, however, the cedar and fir become less dominant, the hemlock and spruce more abundant.
The trail descends to campsites at Tshletshy Creek (9.2 mi/14.8 km; 1360 ft/415 m), where it recrosses the stream. At this point one does not have to wade because the creek is spanned by a large spruce log.
Beyond this crossing the trail deteriorates and is difficult to follow. This is not a route for the novice, and the experienced backpacker will have to do a good deal of scouting. As a consequence one does well to travel a mile an hour through this section. This crossing is the first place Tshletshy Creek has been approached or has been visible since the first crossing more than 8 miles downstream, but the route now makes up for this indiscretion. During the next 5 miles the path crosses the creek ten times in order to take advantage of favorable terrain. In fact, at times the route uses the creek bed because windfalls make travel away from the gravel bars difficult. The creek bed is broad, evidencing the fact that great floods rage through here during the winter. One should watch for orange tags tacked to the trees and follow the easiest course.
After traversing opposite a landslide that extends down to the creek from near the top of the ridge, the trail makes the final crossing (14.4 mi/23.2 km; 2275 ft/696 m)—and it is unique. During the summer and fall, the crossing is dry, although the stream flows just above and below.
At this point the trail leaves Tshletshy Creek and improves but steepens as it climbs toward the divide through stands of western hemlock and silver fir. Because this area—known as Paradise Valley—is isolated and seldom disturbed by man, it is much frequented by elk, and one should be alert for a glimpse of the animals. At Lily Pad Lake, a small tarn with water lilies, the forest becomes subalpine, broken by small openings. Here one can look down and see the big meadow in Paradise Valley. The trail then goes by Delta Tarn, a little triangular lake surrounded by meadows. This is not a good camping place, however, because it is swampy and infested with countless mosquitoes.
Above Paradise Valley the trail climbs sharply to the divide through stands of Alaska cedar and mountain hemlock. The path is lined by huckleberry bushes, often heavy with fruit. The trail then tops the Queets-Quinault Divide (16.2 mi/26.1 km; 3600 ft/1097 m), where it becomes the Big Creek Trail.
Not maintained
Length 0.3 mi/0.5 km
Access None by other trails (connects meadowland of Queets Basin with moraine of Humes Glacier)
USGS Map Mount Queets
Agency Olympic National Park
The importance of this little fragment of trail is inversely proportional to its length. Queets Basin lies on the route of a popular traverse of Mount Olympus and the Bailey Range. When going between the basin and Humes Glacier, one must keep high in order to avoid the Queets Canyon. At the western edge of the basin, this way trail climbs over a timbered spur and makes a precipitous descent to the point where two creeks come together below the glacier (ca. 0.3 mi/0.5 km). The trail ends here, but the route then ascends the loose rubble on the moraine to the glacier.
Although it is difficult to carry a heavy pack over this trail—particularly when going from the glacier to the basin, thus climbing the steep western part—the task is much easier than traveling cross-country across this rough terrain.
