Mount Townsend Hike, Buckhorn Wilderness, Quilcene, Washington
Krista at the top with Olympic National Park in the background
Mount Townsend is a great hike if you’re looking for a hike where you get a lot of bang for your buck. The views from the top towards Olympic National Park are beautiful. Mike and I drove to the Mount Townsend Upper Trailhead on a weekday morning in June. This trailhead was quite small, but we were early enough to get a spot. We set out from the trailhead and were immediately met with switchbacks. There was no time to warm up; we started gaining elevation right from the beginning. After a few miles we came to an intersection with the trail that would take us to Silver Lake. We stayed right to continue up to Mount Townsend. This came with quite a few more switchbacks, but we finally made it to the ridge where the views towards Olympic National Park really started to open up. We walked along the ridge to the top where we had a snack and enjoyed the beautiful mountains in the distance. After our snack break, we headed back down the way we came. This is a hike I’d strongly recommend to anyone looking for beautiful views.
Total stats: 7.8 miles, 3200 vert.
