Swauk Discovery Trail #1335

The Swauk Discovery Trail is a loop trail that begins and ends at Forest Road 9716 at the Swauk Discovery Trailhead Interpretive Site.

At the trailhead, a large kiosk displays a map and information about this educational trail, including free brochures for a self-guided tour. The brochures correlate tonumbered stops along the trail describing forest management techniques and forest ecology visible to the hiker. We don't have any print copies of brochure currently available. Here's a PDF of brochure you can print 2-sided and fold it in half, to have pages be in order similar to brochure.

Also along the trail, hikers will encounter additional signing that identifies tree and plant species. The trail consists of two loops, providing an opportunity for a short hike of almost two miles, while the longer loop is over 2.5 miles. The trail winds uphill through different forest types and runs along a ridge before crossing Forest Road 9716 at 1.5 miles. From the road crossing, the trail continues uphill to the highpoint, which provides good views of the surrounding mountains. From there, the trail heads downhill again for 0.75 mile to the trailhead.

SETTING: Forested mountain side, open ridgetop, logging units.

At a Glance