Lower Gray Wolf River Trail, May 21, 2016

I ventured out on the Lower Gray Wolf River Trail with the 40+ Hiking Meetup last Saturday.

Stats: 8.4 miles round trip, 800 ft gain, Olympic Peninsula, Hood River area.

No parking pass or permit was required.

There is a 5.5 mile dirt road leading into the trail head that was in good condition. The parking area was small, but there was space along the road to park. The forest service road was not well-marked so keep an eye out for it.

For more directions and more trail info see wta.org/go-hiking/hikes/gray-wolf-river

Lower Gray Wolf Trail

We set out on a drizzly day to hike this trail. With the tree cover we stayed reasonably dry…sort of. Luckily I did not forget my boots this time. This was a fairly easy hike, but not flat. The WTA description and trip reports indicate walk, then a steep up hill…then a steep downhill and so forth. I would say it was rolling hills some of them steepish, but short. I made note that we were going downhill at the start which meant uphill at the end.

Rhododendrons on Gray Wolf River trail

Interesting flower on Gray Wolf River Trail

Flowers on Gray Wolf River Trail

Dogwood around the base of a tree

Flowers on Gray Wolf River Trail

There were a lot of flowers on the trail some of which I knew the name of others no clue. There were rhododendrons which I have never seen outside people’s gardens which was pretty cool. There were a couple of trillium which were finishing blooming along with Indian Paint Brush, Dogwood, Columbine, and many more. The moss was amazing and the river was nice.

First stop along the river

It is very lush here

Very mossy

Part of our group

Tarn by the River

There were many campsites along the trail and we saw a couple of campers on our way out, but otherwise not many people. The trail itself was mostly in good condition. There were a few areas where you really needed to watch your footing by the river because the trail was very erroded. Overall the trail was very nice.