On our last day of vacation, we were looking for a short hike to do in the morning before heading to Seattle, and the Spruce Railroad Trail seemed like the perfect fit. This trail is built on an old railroad track and follows the northern shore of Lake Crescent for four miles. A nice feature of this trail is that the main line is fully paved and is wheelchair accessible along its entire length.
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| This railroad was once used to haul Sitka spruce trees to be used in manufacturing WWI aircraft . . . After the war it was used for another forty years for commercial logging |
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| This trail wanders through the lush Olympic Peninsula rainforest with it's many mosses and ferns |
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| Crossing one of several bridges that span small streams along the way |
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| More of those fungi's that Allison is so fond of photographing |
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| After about a half-mile of walking, the shoreline of Lake Crescent comes into view . . . For the remainder of the hike the trail follows just above the shoreline (That's Mt. Storm King rising above the clouds . . . we hiked to it's summit four days ago) |
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| About a mile in (and just before the tunnel) there is a side trail that takes off around a craggy point . . . While unpaved (and not wheelchair accessible), don't miss taking this path which leads you to the Punchbowl |
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| A unique stump along the path |
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| Surprisingly, there was a nice bridge at the Punchbowl that allowed us to continue on and wrap back around the point to reconnect with the main trail |
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| The little inlet or bay known as the Punchbowl (or Devil's Punchbowl??) . . . It had crystal clear water and appeared to be a favorite diving spot for swimmers |
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| One last view from Lake Crescent's shoreline before heading back |
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| Heading back through the tunnel we bypassed by going to the Punchbowl on the side path . . . This part of the trail reminded us of the Hiawatha Bike Trail that we did last month in Idaho |
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| As we were making our way back over one of the bridges, we notice that the old rails were still visible . . . . I guess we were in too much of hurry on our way that we missed them the first time around . . . Anyway, it was a nice reminder as to what made this trail possible |
This was a nice trail to stretch our legs before we made the long drive back to Seattle. The only drawback we could find (and it was minor) is that the trail is 4-miles one-way and if you didn't want to make this an out and back hike (which you can at any point along the trail), you would have to arrange a car shuttle or hike 8-miles (r/t). It would have been nice to have another trail, maybe higher up the mountain, that could have been used for the return portion . . . I know we're getting pretty nitpicky!
