Mount Catherine Trail #1348

Trail begins on Forest Road 9070 and ends at the summit of Mt. Catherine.

From its junction with the Cold Creek Trail 1303 (approximately one mile from Forest Road 9070), the trail heads uphill and enters an old clearcut. It continues up through the clearcut to its junction with the road at 0.7 miles. The trail then goes up the road about 150 feet and takes a right onto a steep logging road (it’s signed at this point) and follows this road about 900 feet to a switchback on a landing. The trail turns left from the end of the landing and switchbacks uphill through the clearcut. It soon enters the trees and continues uphill to a ridgetop, which the trail follows up to the summit of Mt. Catherine (1.5 miles from the road junction). This trail was built in the 1930s by the Federal Aviation Administration for the construction and maintenance of a navigational light beacon on the mountaintop. There is little or no water available along this trail.

SETTING: Creek valley, clearcut, old-growth forest, ridgetop, meadows.

At a Glance

Operational Hours:	June - October December - April
Restrictions:	Hiker only.
Closest Towns:	Easton, North Bend

General Information

Directions:

From I-90, take Exit 53 at Snoqualmie Pass or Exit 54 at Hyak. Then get onto Forest Road 9070 by entering the Summit East parking lot at Hyak and taking a left turn out of the lot. The road winds past the sewage treatment plant, follows the west side of Keechelus Lake and goes up the Cold Creek valley. The Mount Catherine Trail can be accessed at the bottom from the Twin Lakes Trail 1303 or by driving further up Road 9070 to a point near the ridgetop where the trail crosses the road.