This trail was an actual road 10 years ago. A washout on the road that was never fixed has slowly transformed this into a beautiful hike. Its a lowland river hike up the Dosewallips River to what once was a car campground in Olympic National Park. There's still a campground but its 5.3 miles from where you parked your car.
The first mile and a half is along the roaring river - after that the hike moves away from the river and starts to climb. You pass over 2 or 3 streams and waterfalls that are making their ways down the mountains towards the river. At about 3 miles you enter the Olympic National Park. After another mile you cross Constance Creek as it rushes downhill. Right past Constaance Creek is the steepest trail in the Olympics. It's the trail to Lake Constance and its just 2 miles long but its a 3500 foot elevation gain.
At 4.3 miles you hit Dosewallips Falls as the river roars down the mountain covering in just a few hundred yards the elevation I walked 4 miles to cover. It was stunning. I had planned to stop here but I wasn't tired so I pushed on the extra mile and made the campground by about 10:30. I found a picnic table and had a sandwich and enjoyed the sound of the river passing and the otherwise quiet and beautiful surroundings. After a while I made my way back down the trail to the car and then home - a great day.
Total Distance - 11miles round trip
Here are the pictures...
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