Wagonwheel Lake─You’ll bust your axle on this tough hike
Quick Facts:
Location: Staircase Area, Olympic National
Land Agency: National Park Service
Roundtrip: 5.8 miles
Elevation Gain: 3,200 feet
Green Trails Map: Olympic Mountains East 168SX
Notes: Dogs prohibited; National Park entry fee.
Access: From Shelton, head north on US 101 for 15 miles to Hoodsport. Turn left onto SR 119 proceeding for 9.3 miles to a T-intersection. Turn left continuing on SR 119 for 1.7 miles where it becomes gravel FR 24. Continue another 3.7 miles to a junction turning right. Proceed 1.2 miles turning right at Ranger Station for Trailhead.
Contact: Olympic National Park Wilderness Information Center (360) 565-3100; www.fs.usda.gov/olympic
Recommended Guidebook: Day Hiking Olympic Peninsula 2nd edition (Mountaineers Books)
Good to Know: Trail Less Taken, old-growth
This hike is one of the steepest trails in the Olympic National Park. Over three thousand vertical feet are gained in less than three miles. Tight switchbacks to no switchbacks, the grade is brutal. Then once you stop climbing, a brushy avalanche chute needs to be traversed. When you get to Wagonwheel, you realize it’s no chrome hubcap. Just a tiny forest ringed pond with a nary a good place to soak your feet. But, if you can muster some more energy to climb the open ridge beyond it, well earned scenic rewards are yours!
Through a lush understory of shoulder high ferns and salal, begin the climb. The trail relentlessly marches up a steep slope in a series of short tight switchbacks. Through mostly second-growth fir, a few white pines and rhododendrons break the monotony of the forest. The monotony of the climb however, is rarely broken.
In about 1.5 miles the trail gets even steeper, forgoing any switchbacks. After 2.0 miles and two quarts of sweat, the trail miraculously levels out. Now through old-growth fir and hemlock, skirt a steep slope breaking out onto a brushy avalanche chute. Work your way across it enjoying views of Mount Lincoln and the Sawtooth Range.
Re-enter cool evergreen forest, cross Wagonwheel’s outlet creek and finally after 2.9 of the toughest miles around, arrive at the little lake. A small sunny bench above the lake makes for a good place to collapse. But if you have any oomph left, locate a primitive path taking off from the lake. It goes for a half mile straight up the 4,700-foot ridge to the north. Here in meadows punctuated with silver snags, enjoy a breathtaking panorama of surrounding peaks along with little Wagonwheel Lake below.
Wagonwheel Lake is one of 136 featured hikes in my Day Hiking Olympic Peninsula 2nd edition Book. For more details on this hike and others, pick up a copy today of this best selling guide to hiking on the Olympic Peninsula.
