CCC Trail - Western Trailhead

Take a walk back through the years by exploring this section of the historic CCC Trail.

From the parking lot, the trail begins by walking down more an a mile of active forest road used to access private property along the road. The second mile is a wide swath of Douglas Fir monoculture, a legacy of the callously efficient timber practices of fifty years ago. At about 2 1/2 miles, pass the trail up to Green Mountain on your left, marked by a high rusty gate barring entrance to a long-abandoned timber road. Continuing on, the road starts a very gradual descent toward the Middle Fork Snoqualmie. Streams and rivulets of various sizes pass through culverts or cut across the trail for the next few miles, as the forest matures and diversifies. Alders and cedars begin to appear alongside the Douglas Firs, and the road begins to narrow and become something more akin to a trail. The logging road starts to feel more like a hiking trail as you encounter more pleasant views and engaging terrain. After a little more than 5 miles of hiking, stop at the half-way point just past Big Blowout Creek, where a spur connects the CCC road to FR 56.

The CCC Road offers some stunning vistas and expanses, showcasing Russian Butte, Mt Garfield, Bessemer Mountain and Mailbox Peak as well as the valley floors they preside over. Unfortunately, much of the approach to these views was plodding and flat, great for the biker or equestrian, but a lot of mundane and unimpressive ground to cover on foot. At the same time, the road could be a great introduction to snowshoeing – most of the trail is flat and friendly, as well as being comfortably close to civilization. Beyond some light snowshoe experimentation, however, if you’re just out for a pleasant walk in the woods, we recommend you skip the west end of the CCC Road and access the route either via the spur off of FR 56 or from the east end.

History

Running beneath Mt. Teneriffe and Green Mountain, the CCC Road snakes its way toward Taylor River. First blazed by the Depression-era Civilian Conservation Corps in the 1920s to help facilitate access for timber and mining interests, it thrived as the only reliable access to the area before being supplanted by the more modern Middle Fork Road (FR 56). Although it was not so long ago that the area was a haven for a wide variety of unsavory activities, the road is now largely closed to motorized vehicles and is in the middle of the slow transition from road to trail. The clear cutting from the 1960s is still apparent in young forest that lines the trail, though enough time has passed that the ugliness has largely been obscured.