Thursday, June 18, 2026
After finishing up the short Tongue Mountain hike, I took set off to do the Juniper Ridge hike.
Juniper Ridge Trail #261 heads south from Road 2904:
I started climbing immediately. The day was getting warm and I was grateful for the shade of the trees:
The trail was in bad shape thanks to the motorbike use here:
There wasn’t much to see along the way except for a couple different wildflowers:
The trail was steep and rutted and hiking it felt like a slog. Then the mosquitos started getting bad. I was grateful to come to this viewpoint when I was close to Juniper Peak:
More rutted trail:
The steep sections were loose dirt and rocks. Not fun to go up and really not fun to descend later:
Then the trail popped out of the trees at the foot of Juniper Peak:
Wow, the views! Mt. Adams:
Mt. Rainier:
The trail skirts around Juniper Peak:
More views of Mt. Adams (the pointy peak at left has no name):
The Goat Rocks were visible too:
A steep eroded trail heads straight up the southern slope of Juniper Peak:
I decided to skip it and just enjoy the nice garden gardens along the trail just south of Juniper Peak:
There were plenty of wildflowers to see:
And lots of views to soak in. Looking west at McCoy Peak and Mt. St. Helens:
Looking south at Jumbo Peak:
Looking northeast:
Past the rock gardens the trail heads into the trees:
And at the top of the rise is a view of Mt. Adams again, as well as Sunrise Peak (which I would hike tomorrow):
And the “backside” of that pointy unnamed peak:
After lingering for awhile on the ridge I turned and headed back:
North of Juniper Peak was a rise next to the trail with a user trail to the top. I headed up there and got a nice view looking northwest at Burley Mountain:
Looking back at Mt. Adams and the north side of Juniper Peak:
It was a long slow descent on the rutted trail. I was glad to get back to my car!
I have the 3rd edition of Ira Spring and Harvey Manning’s book 100 Hikes in Washington’s South Cascades and Olympics, published in 1998. By that point motorbikes had been allowed on these trails for a long time. This is what they had to say about it:
“The nearby Indian Heaven, Goat Rocks, and Mount Adams Wildernesses are so thronged that the Forest Service is encouraging hikers to go elsewhere. Juniper Ridge is among the best substitutes—-or would be, except motorcycles are allowed on the trail and few hikers can stand the racket and stench. However, you owe it to the trail—and yourself—to do it once, go home and write a letter, and eventually you’ll be able to come again and again, quiet and happy.
The esteem for Dark Divide and its flower-covered meadows and its dramatic views along the procession of Cascade volcanoes from Hood to Rainier, these many years urgently proposed for dedication as Wilderness, can be measured by the attention given in this guidebook. No wildland in the state of such magnitude and national importance is being so cavalierly shrugged off by the cavalier shruggers of the Forest Service and Congress, and that’s why the Washington Trails Association is devoting major energies there to preserving and restoring motorfree trails. As always, boots are crucially important in making their (and your)case.
The aversion hikers have to sharing trails with motorcycles has played into the Forest Service’s hand. When there are no hikers there are no nasty letters; therefore, say the shruggers, hikers have no interest in these trails, so let the machines roar. That’s why more hikers must grit their teeth and do some suffering, even if they feel like missionaries sent to convert the cannibals.”
Gaia stats: 6.8 miles, 1,800′ elevation gain
