Total Ascent: 1300ft
Highest Point: 1728ft
Total Distance: 7.0 miles
Location: N 46° 50.5560, W 122° 17.5080
Required Permit: None
Difficulty: Moderate
This week we headed out to Pack Forest, an old favorite from our childhood. It had been years since we wandered along Pack Forest’s trails and we thought it would make for a decent winter hike. After doing a little research and plotting out a rough route, we packed up and headed out to Eatonville.Pack Forest is always open, and almost always free of snow in the winter. While some of the trails can be a little challenging, forest roads can take a hiker nearly anywhere in the park.
With minimal elevation gain and easy access, this is a great pick for winter walks, hiking with youngsters or bringing out the dog for an adventure. We suggest that you bring along a map, as the multiple roads and trails can be confusing, and maps are not always available from the Gatehouse in the winter. If you make it out to Pack Forest, we highly recommend you take the time to head out to the waterfalls, which are well worth the trip.There's a lot more to Pack Forest, and you can learn all about it in our book, Hiking Through History Washington. You'll find a trail map, route descriptions, history, and more
for this and many more hikes throughout the State. Help support hikingwithmybrother.com and the work we do by picking up a copy!To get there, take I-5 South to Tacoma, taking Exit 127 for Highway 512. In about two miles, take the State Route 7 exit toward Spanaway. Continue on SR 7 for roughly 22 miles to the signed entrance to the University of Washington Pack Forest on the left. -Nathan
Print Google Directions >>
7 Comments:
Great article, and with the arrival (finally) of some pleasant weather recently, it's inspiring me to check this out. I noted, though, that your link to "bring along a map" takes the reader to a Google spreadsheet listing kitchen chore duties...
Anonymous, thanks for pointing out the error! Should be fixed now. I got a good laugh out of that mistake. :)
The falls are breathtaking. Cool place to check out. Thanks for your post.
PF005-- should say "follow 1080 downhill," you have 1081. We hiked this today, and couldn't figure out where road 1081 went downhill except for where we came from, so we went another way :)
Shelby, it should be correct now - sorry for any confusion. Thanks for letting us know!
Did this hike today and had a great time. Couldn't figure out how to get down to where you took that waterfall picture without being unsafe though. Trail was in mostly good shape, some water and mud but it's spring in WA. The "long" trail of giants was amazing
Hiked Pack Forest on Friday, enjoying the greenery, flora and fauna. Found the blue painted boulder above the falls, but couldn't find a safe, easy way down to the actual falls. Anyone have info for our next trip back? TIA
Post a Comment