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TRIP 2 Huffman Peak Loop

Distance		14.5 miles, Loop
Elevation Gain		3000 feet
Hiking Time		7 to 8 hours
Optional Map		Green Trails Lookout Mountain
Usually Open		May to October
Best Time		Mid-June
Trail Use		Dogs OK (but ford may be dangerous), horseback riding
Agency		Mt. St. Helens National Volcanic Monument, Gifford Pinchot National Forest
Difficulty		Difficult

HIGHLIGHTS So you’ve come to the Siouxon Creek area and you feel that the Siouxon Creek Trail (Trip 3), while beautiful, just doesn’t provide enough exercise. Well, there’s another worthy option here for athletic hikers looking to pump up that heart rate. The climb to Huffman Peak will satisfy the cardiovascular needs of the most avid hiker and has the added benefit of providing a first-rate view of Mt. St. Helens.

By making a loop out of the trip and returning on the Siouxon Creek Trail, you won’t even miss the waterfalls and forests that are the area’s main attraction. In addition to strong lungs and thighs, this hike requires an unusual piece of equipment—a pair of wading shoes. You’ll need them to make the bridgeless lower crossing of Siouxon Creek.

DIRECTIONS Begin by driving to Battleground, either by going north on State Highway 503 from Interstate 205, or by going east on State Highway 502 from Exit 9 off Interstate 5. From the intersection of the two state highways in the middle of Battleground, proceed north on Highway 503 for 16.8 miles, and turn right on N.E. Healy Road just after you pass the Mt. St. Helens National Volcanic Monument headquarters.

After 9.2 miles on N.E. Healey Road, bear left at a poorly signed junction and travel on single-lane, paved Forest Road 57. Drive another 1.3 miles, and then turn sharply left on often unsigned Forest Road 5701. Follow this rough, paved road for 3.7 miles to its end at a trailhead parking lot.

The trail departs near a large signboard about 100 yards west of the parking area. You hike just 50 feet and turn left (west) at a signed junction. For the next couple of miles you follow an easy trail that parallels the road, staying some distance below it in a lovely western-hemlock forest. Along the way you splash across three small side creeks that won’t even get the tops of your boots wet, but which provide enough water to satisfy an array of riparian plants like devil’s club and maidenhair fern.

After 1.9 miles the trail splits, and you go right on a path that winds steadily downhill for 0.2 mile to a good camp beside a ford of Siouxon Creek. This is where you need to break out the wading shoes. The stream is about 30 feet wide and calf- to thigh-deep, depending on the season. The ford isn’t particularly dangerous, but until late summer you can expect it to be chilly.

Pick up the trail above a little gravel bar on the opposite bank and quickly climb away from the water. The trail uses several short switchbacks and a couple of fairly steep traverses to reach the rounded crest of a forested ridge.

This forest is a good example of the succession process that takes place at low elevations of the western Cascades. The high canopy of the forest is made up of tall Douglas firs, while beneath this canopy grow shade-tolerant western hemlocks. If this forest manages to avoid logging or fires for the next couple centuries, the firs will die and the hemlocks will take over as the climax species. But since you don’t have time to wait for this process to take place, pick up your pack and push on northeast up the ridge.

For almost a mile the going is very easy as you stay level or gradually climb in a dense forest, and then the uphill grade picks up a little as you climb near the southern edge of the rim. Along the way you often come to open areas where you have to push through thickets of Oregon grape and salal, but which give you frequent views over the deep, green depths of the Siouxon Creek drainage. The trail gets steeper as it works away from the rim and traverses the heavily wooded north side of the ridge. This steeper grade lasts for almost 1 mile before you level off and contour across the ridge’s south side. As you go higher, wildflowers become more common, especially lupine, beargrass, bunchberry, and white anemone. When the uphill finally ends, the trail curves to the left and crosses a partly forested slope with lots of huckleberries and good views east to Huffman Peak, and then you come to a saddle and a junction with the North Siouxon Trail.

If you are up for a cross-country scramble, take the time to visit the top of Huffman Peak from this saddle. The climb initially goes through forests and then up an open rocky slope. The way is often steep and requires some rock scrambling, but it is not dangerous. The reward for this effort comes in the form of extensive views from the rocky summit. Several roads and clear-cuts spoil things a little, but the fine views of massive Mt. Rainier, truncated Mt. St. Helens, and bulky Mt. Adams more than make up for it.

View of Mt. St. Helens from Huffman Peak

After returning to the main trail at the saddle, you turn east and traverse the steep slopes on the shady north side of Huffman Peak. The trail goes through the saddle east of the peak and then stays level or goes gradually downhill for a little less than a mile before reaching a small brown sign marking the junction with Wildcat Trail 156.

The recommended loop turns sharply back to the right here, climbing very steeply for a few hundred yards to the top of a viewless knoll and then descending a little ridge to the south. The downhill along this ridge is gentle for most of the first 0.5 mile, but as the little ridge peters out, the pace of the descent quickens. A few miniature switchbacks help somewhat, but generally you steeply descend the forested hillside. For a short time the pace lessens as the ridge reappears, but this respite is followed by nine very steep switchbacks. You know you are near the bottom when you start to hear the sound of crashing Wildcat Falls, in the canyon on your left, and come to a rocky overlook above the falls. From this viewpoint the trail descends six more switchbacks to a stunning viewpoint near the base of the falls’ 100-foot sheer drop. From here the trail follows the creek downstream for 0.2 mile to a junction just above Siouxon Creek.

The trail to the right goes down 50 yards to a knee-deep ford of Siouxon Creek. Since you still have those wading shoes, this ford should be no problem. A short distance up the south bank is a campsite and a junction with the Siouxon Creek Trail. If you want to extend the trip a bit, bear left at the junction on the north side of Siouxon Creek, hop across Wildcat Creek, and then climb upstream for 0.5 mile through lovely forests to a junction with the Chinook Trail. Bear right (downhill) and drop to a rock-hop crossing just below 50-foot-high Chinook Falls. To close out the loop, walk downstream past a couple of campsites and across a wooden bridge over Siouxon Creek. Turn right at a junction on the opposite side of the bridge and walk 3.7 miles along the scenic Siouxon Creek Trail back to your car.