Mount Mitchell, Washington Hiking
Location: South of Mt. St. Helens
Nearest City: Cougar, Wa
Length: 6.2 Miles - To the top and back
Elevation Gain: 2300 ft
Difficulty: Moderate to Difficult
Forest Pass Required?: No
Mount Mitchell is located in SW Washington near the Mt. St. Helen's National Volcanic Monument. There are some pretty steep switchbacks near the beginning of the trail where you gain elevation rapidly. You'll also come across two paths that split off the trail to the left that you will not want to take.
The trail becomes more gradual until you hit the last half mile of the hike when it becomes steeper until you reach the summit.
The views from the trail only give you hints of what's to come when you reach the top. Once you are on top you have wonderful views of Mt. St. Helens, Mt Adams, and Mt. Hood. You can also see Mt. Rainer poking up as well. Mt. St. Helens is the closest large mountain and it is a wonderful view of its south side.
There are some large granite rocks at the top you can dangle your feet over and enjoy the view, eat a lunch and soak in the sights before starting the trip back down.
The image was taken with a fairly wide angle lens, so Mt. St. Helens appears a little farther away than it really is.
From Portland you should head north on I-5 to Exit 21 at Woodland. Turn right onto the exit and follow signs for Cougar, which is about 32 miles east of Woodland. About 3 miles past Cougar, before Highway 503-spur turns into Forest Road 90, you want to turn right onto a small unmarked paved road. You cross a bridge and then turn left onto a poorly maintained gravel road that you will follow for about 1 1/2 miles where you'll turn right onto a gravel road marked "10". After another 2 1/2 miles turn right onto road 1003. The dirt track become un-drivable and you can park along it to begin your hike. You can get maps for the Mt. Mitchell trails at most of the small stores on the way to Cougar.
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