Friday, June 19, 2026
My final hike in the Dark Divide area was to Sunrise Peak.
Driving up Road 2324, there’s a spot about 4.2 miles up where the road passes through a narrow gap being overtaken by the uphill slope:
There was no one at the trailhead when I arrived. I had a nice view of Juniper Ridge and Sunrise Peak:
Sunrise Trail #262 starts at the end of a logging spur and wastes no time in gaining elevation.
As with my hike to Juniper Ridge yesterday, this trail was also rutted by dirt bikes:
I reached a spot with a nice viewpoint:
I didn’t see as many wildflowers as yesterday, but did see a few:
At 0.8 miles I reached the junction where Sunrise Peak Trail #262A heads off to the right:
This is supposed to be a hiker-only trail, but I found that the dirt bikes were using it and had created a deep narrow rut. Photos can’t convey how bad this was. It took me 45 minutes to hike up the next half mile. Because of the rut down the middle of the trail I had to put one foot directly in front of the other. It was slow and tedious:
Finally the trail broke out of the trees:
And I had a nice view of Jumbo Peak:
The trail goes around this cliff:
There were some more wildflowers here:
Then I reached the junction with Sunrise Peak Trail #261A where I turned right and headed toward the summit:
This was once the site of a fire lookout. All that remains is a railing, some anchor points, and cable:
The views up here are incredible. Looking south at Jumbo Peak:
Mt. St. Helens to the west:
And in front of Mt. St. Helens is Langille Ridge with McCoy Peak and Langille Peak:
Mt. Burley:
Juniper Ridge with the grassy slope of Juniper Peak at center:
I wonder if those dead trees are beetle kill:
Mt. Rainier:
The Goat Rocks:
Mt. Adams:
Mt. Hood:
After spending some time on the summit and enjoying the fantastic views, I headed back down:
Rather than retrace my steps I took #261A to the north until it met up with Juniper Ridge Trail #261. I followed this north a short distance to see if there was anything interesting. I did spot some avalanche lilies and phlox:
And I got a view of the other side of Sunrise Peak:
Otherwise the trail was in the trees without any views:
I turned around and followed the Juniper Ridge Trail south. This stretch was just as miserable as what I had encountered earlier, with an eroded rutted trail:
I met back up with the Sunrise Trail and turned left:
A parting view of Mt. Adams from the trail:
As with Tongue Mountain and Juniper Ridge yesterday, Sunrise Peak is a gorgeous destination with a wretched hiking experience to get there. I had wanted to also explore Jumbo Peak while I was up here, but I couldn’t handle any more of these ruts. It’s unfortunately that these trails have been so destroyed as to make them unhikeable.
Gaia stats: 4.1 miles, 1,100′ elevation gain
