Tiger Mountain is a mountain in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sove ...

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

. It is at the center of the

Issaquah Alps The Issaquah Alps is the unofficial name for the highlands near Issaquah, Washington, a suburb of Seattle, including Cougar Mountain, Squak Mountain, Tiger Mountain, Taylor Mountain, Rattlesnake Ridge, Rattlesnake Mountain, and Grand Ridge. Th ...

, a small range in the Eastside region of

King County, Washington King County is located in the U.S. state of Washington. The population was 2,269,675 in the 2020 census, making it the most populous county in Washington, and the 13th-most populous in the United States. The county seat is Seattle, also the ...

southeast of

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

. The mountain is part of a designated protected area, the Tiger Mountain State Forest, and has several recreational areas used for hiking, mountain biking, and

paragliding Paragliding is the recreational and competitive adventure sport of flying paragliders: lightweight, free-flying, foot-launched glider aircraft with no rigid primary structure. The pilot sits in a harness or lies supine in a cocoon-like 'p ...

Characteristics

The mountain has six peaks in the center of the

, forming a triangle between Interstate 90 (I-90) on the north,

Issaquah Issaquah ( ) is a city in King County, Washington, United States. The population was 40,051 at the 2020 census. Located in a valley and bisected by Interstate 90, the city is bordered by the Sammamish Plateau to the north and the " Issaquah Al ...

- Hobart Road on the southwest, and State Route 18 (SR 18) on the southeast. Immediately to the west is Squak Mountain followed by Cougar Mountain, while to the southeast are McDonald and Taylor Mountains, and

Rattlesnake Ridge Rattlesnake Ridge, known as daʔšədabš to the Snoqualmie people, is the ridge of Rattlesnake Mountain located south of North Bend, Washington, United States. The western end is near the intersection of State Route 18 and I-90 in Snoqualmie, W ...

Tiger Mountain State Forest

Tiger Mountain State Forest was established in 1981. In 1989, the entire Issaquah Plateau in the northwest corner was designated as a conservation area, the West Tiger Mountain Natural Resources Conservation Area, accessed by a large trailhead at Exit 20 on I-90. It is 13,745-acres. The most crowded trail leads to the bald summit of West Tiger #3, with a panoramic view of

and points to the south and east. It is a hike, round-trip, with an elevation change of about . The nearby peaks of West Tiger #2 and West Tiger #1 provide essentially the same view, but with fewer obstructions. State Route 18 runs between Tiger and Taylor mountains, reaching an elevation of . This stretch of the highway is commonly referred to as the "Tiger Mountain Summit" in local traffic reports. Another major trailhead is located at this summit. The trail provides access to South Tiger Mountain with limited views, Middle Tiger Mountain with a 45-degree window looking down on the Cedar Hills Landfill, and East Tiger Mountain with a panoramic view south toward Mount Rainier. Many trails on Tiger Mountain have wide beds and slope very gently because they are built on the remnants of 1920s logging railroads, long after the rails and crossties were salvaged in the Great Depression. Near Middle Tiger Mountain is the site of a fatal 1924 train wreck where artifacts can still be seen. In the most remote part of the forest, 15 Mile Creek (a tributary of Issaquah Creek) arises in the pass between East and West Tiger. The creek carves a miniature " Grand Canyon" through

sandstone Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks. Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates ...

. Much of Tiger Mountain is owned or managed by the Washington State Department of Natural Resources.

Paragliding history

Poo Poo Point is a bare ridge on the west side of Tiger Mountain. The point is a popular launching point for

and

hang gliding Hang gliding is an air sport or recreational activity in which a pilot flies a light, non-motorised foot-launched heavier-than-air aircraft called a hang glider. Most modern hang gliders are made of an aluminium alloy or composite frame covered ...

. The point is reached by the Chirico Trail, which starts at the landing zone for the hang gliders and paragliders in a field adjacent to the Issaquah-Hobart Road, or by taking the High School Trail which begins on 2nd Avenue just south of Issaquah High School. Many people fly year-round (weather permitting) and have flown cross-country flights exceeding . In the 1970s, the area was owned by

Weyerhaeuser Weyerhaeuser () is an American timberland company which owns nearly of timberlands in the U.S., and manages an additional of timberlands under long-term licenses in Canada. The company also manufactures wood products. It operates as a real e ...

and used for logging. The name "Poo Poo" Point came from the sound of the logging steam whistles. In 1976, the clear-cut area started to be used by

hang gliders Hang gliding is an air sport or recreational activity in which a pilot flies a light, non-motorised foot-launched heavier-than-air aircraft called a hang glider. Most modern hang gliders are made of an aluminium alloy or composite frame covered ...

as a launching spot. Gliders would be taken up the hill on the logging road. Poo Poo Point got its start as a paragliding destination in the 1990s. *In 1990 the Northwest paragliding club was formed *In 1991 the first of many site improvements using heavy equipment was made to the Poo Poo Point north launch by Team Chirico; leveling it and clearing debris. *In 1995 the south launch was similarly leveled and cleared of debris *In 1997 the Chirico trail was started; it was finally finished in 2000 *In the early 2000s, Astro Turf was installed at Poo Poo point. While there have been a significant number of paragliding incidents, there have not been any paragliding fatalities on Tiger Mountain. Although in 2008 Eric Jansen died of natural causes while paragliding from Tiger mountain (however his death was not due to paragliding). and in 2011, Ken Blanchard died in a neighboring valley while on a cross-country flight. Poo Poo Point is currently the most popular spot for

Paragliding Paragliding is the recreational and competitive adventure sport of flying paragliders: lightweight, free-flying, foot-launched glider aircraft with no rigid primary structure. The pilot sits in a harness or lies supine in a cocoon-like 'p ...

Transmitting facilities

Some Seattle-area radio station transmitters are on Tiger Mountain's west face. These include: *

KNKX KNKX (88.5 MHz) is a public radio station licensed to Tacoma, Washington, United States. A member of National Public Radio (NPR), it airs a jazz and news format for the Seattle metropolitan area. The station is owned by Pacific Public Medi ...

88.5 * KQMV 92.5 * KSWD 94.1 *

KJAQ KJAQ (96.5 FM) is a commercial radio station in Seattle, Washington. KJAQ airs an adult hits music format branded as "Jack FM". It is owned by iHeartMedia, Inc. The studios and offices are in the Belltown neighborhood northwest of Downtow ...

96.5 *

KIRO-FM KIRO-FM (97.3 MHz) is a commercial radio station licensed to Tacoma, Washington, and serving the Seattle-Tacoma radio market. It airs a news/talk radio format and is owned by Salt Lake City–based Bonneville International, a broadcasting compa ...

97.3 * KING-FM 98.1 *

KNUC KNUC (98.9 FM "98-9 The Bull") is a commercial radio station in Seattle, Washington. The station is owned by Hubbard Broadcasting and airs a country music radio format. Hubbard also owns four other radio stations in the Seattle metropolitan ar ...

98.9 *

KISW KISW (99.9 FM) – branded 99.9 KISW, The Rock of Seattle – is a commercial mainstream rock radio station licensed to Seattle, Washington. Owned by Audacy, Inc., the station serves the Seattle metropolitan area; live shows include ''The Me ...

99.9 *

KKWF KKWF (100.7 FM "100.7 The Wolf") is a commercial radio station in Seattle, Washington. The station is owned by Audacy, Inc. and it airs a country music radio format. The studios and offices are on Fifth Avenue in Downtown Seattle. KKWF has a ...

100.7 *

KZOK-FM KZOK-FM (102.5 MHz) is a commercial radio station located in Seattle, Washington. It airs a classic rock radio format and is owned by iHeartMedia, Inc. KZOK's transmitter is located near Issaquah, Washington, on Tiger Mountain, and operates fr ...

102.5 *

KHTP KHTP (103.7 FM, "Hot 103-7"), is a commercial radio station in Seattle. The station is owned and operated by Audacy, Inc. and it airs a classic hip-hop radio format. The studios and offices are on Fifth Avenue in Downtown Seattle. KHTP's tr ...

103.7 * KBKS-FM 106.1 *

KNDD KNDD (107.7 FM, "107-7 The End") is a commercial radio station in Seattle, Washington. It is owned by Audacy, Inc. and airs an alternative rock radio format. Its studios are located on Fifth Avenue in Downtown Seattle. The station broadcast ...

107.7

Sources

References

External links

* * * * {{Authority control Cascade Range Mountains of Washington (state) Mountains of King County, Washington Washington (state) state forests Washington Natural Areas Program Protected areas of King County, Washington