The Geyser Valley trail in

Olympic National Park Olympic National Park is a national park of the United States located in Washington, on the Olympic Peninsula. The park has four regions: the Pacific coastline, alpine areas, the west-side temperate rainforest, and the forests of the drier e ...

is an area along the

Elwha River The Elwha River is a river on the Olympic Peninsula in the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington. From its source at Elwha snowfinger in the Olympic Mountains, it flows generally north to the Strait of Juan de Fuca. Most of the river's co ...

between Rica Canyon and the Grand Canyon of the Elwha, where many homesteaders tried to eke out a living in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Today, this trail allows hikers to visit several interesting sites, as well as, providing several loops of different lengths. The route begins at Whiskey Bend Trailhead, at the end of Whiskey Bend road, approximately 5 miles from the Elwha Ranger Station. It travels for about 1.3 miles along the Elwha River trail, before the first descent down approximately 400 feet to Goblins Gate at the head of Rica Canyon. The trail continues along the

through a

riparian A riparian zone or riparian area is the interface between land and a river or stream. In some regions, the terms riparian woodland, riparian forest, riparian buffer zone, riparian corridor, and riparian strip are used to characterize a ripar ...

forest of

bigleaf maple ''Acer macrophyllum'', the bigleaf maple or Oregon maple, is a large deciduous tree in the genus '' Acer''. It is native to western North America. In addition to uses by animals, it is of some culinary and woodworking interest. Description Big ...

red alder ''Alnus rubra'', the red alder, is a deciduous broadleaf tree native to western North America (Alaska, Yukon, British Columbia, Washington, Oregon, California, Idaho and Montana). Description ''Alnus rubra'' is the largest species of alder in ...

, black cottonwood, with

Douglas fir The Douglas fir (''Pseudotsuga menziesii'') is an evergreen conifer species in the pine family, Pinaceae. It is the tallest tree in the Pinaceae family. It is native to western North America and is also known as Douglas-fir, Douglas spruce, Or ...

Western red cedar ''Thuja plicata'' is a large evergreen coniferous tree in the family Cupressaceae, native to the Pacific Northwest of North America. Its common name is western redcedar in the U.S. or western red cedar in the UK, and it is also called pacific re ...

, and

Grand fir ''Abies grandis'' (grand fir, giant fir, lowland white fir, great silver fir, western white fir, Vancouver fir, or Oregon fir) is a fir native to northwestern North America, occurring at altitudes of sea level to . It is a major constituent of t ...

. The trail passes the alder grove of

Krause Bottom Krause Bottom is a riparian forest area on the Elwha River along the Geyser Valley trail in Olympic National Park, Washington. It contains a forest of bigleaf maple, red alder ''Alnus rubra'', the red alder, is a deciduous broadleaf tree nat ...

, where the first possible loop back up the slope heads up, and some old homesteader clearings, before arriving at Humes Ranch Cabin, approximately 3 miles from the trailhead. Humes Ranch Cabin is maintained today by the

National Park Service The National Park Service (NPS) is an List of federal agencies in the United States, agency of the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government, within the US Department of the Interior. The service manages all List ...

as a historic site, and the meadows below the cabin are kept open as Humes once did. You can also see 100-year-old fruit trees in the pastures. Approximately 3/4 of a mile further, the trail climbs the eroding cliffs along the river and crosses Dodger point bridge at the mouth of the Grand Canyon of the Elwha. This marks the end of Geyser Valley, but the trail continues for 11 miles up to the summit of Dodger Point Mountain at over 5,700 ft. It is possible to begin looping back to the Elwha river trail, by slowly climbing the slope. The trail will meet the short-cut coming up from Humes Ranch Cabin and then will pass the old homestead of Michael's Cabin. The trail then heads back on a level grade back towards Whiskey Bend trailhead. Homesteaders historically reported seeing enormous numbers of salmon coming up the river each year to spawn. However, salmon have been blocked from the upper 65 miles of river habitat with the construction of the

Elwha Dam The Elwha Dam was a 108-ft (33 m) high dam located in the United States, in the state of Washington, on the Elwha River approximately upstream from the mouth of the river on the Strait of Juan de Fuca. The Elwha River Ecosystem and Fisheries ...

in 1913. However, both the

and Glines Canyon Dam were removed in 2012. As part of the

Elwha Ecosystem Restoration The Elwha Ecosystem Restoration Project is a 21st-century project of the U.S. National Park Service to remove two dams on the Elwha River on the Olympic Peninsula in Washington (U.S. state), Washington state, and restore the river to a natural st ...

project, Chinook salmon began returning to the Geyser Valley.

Gallery

Image:Humes.jpg, Humes Ranch Cabin Homestead Site Image:Elwha River - Dodger Point Bridge3.JPG, Dodger Point Bridge Image:Elwha River - Humes Ranch Area2.JPG, Geyser Valley of the Elwha River

External links

Humes Ranch Loop Description
{{DEFAULTSORT:Geyser Valley Trail Hiking trails in Olympic National Park Protected areas of Clallam County, Washington Transportation in Clallam County, Washington