Mount Walker, Washington, United States

4Stephen M 5:00 PM Aug 7, 2013

A truly remarkable perspective
It is easy to miss the turn off from southbound Highway 101 to Mount Walker. It is about five miles south of the town of Quilcene. The road is gravel, very dusty in the summer, blocked by snow in the winter. There is also a trail which gains about 2000 feet in about four miles. At the summit, there are both north and south viewpoints. Each is a short walk from a small parking area with latrines. From the South Viewpoint, one can see (on a clear day) Mount Rainier, the City of Seattle, and even Mount Saint Helens to the south. From the North Viewpoint, one can see Mount Baker and the San Juan Islands. The trail up Mount Walker ends at the North Viewpoint. Mount Walker is the easternmost of the Olympic Mountains and well worth a visit, if only to see a perspective of Mount Rainier and Seattle which is unavailable from any other point. Take water, as there is none available on the mountain.

4wmcduff 5:00 PM Mar 24, 2014

A Wonderful, Spur-Of-The-Moment Break
My sister an I had taken the Port Angeles ferry and were heading south along the Olympic Peninsula on our way to Vegas when we saw the sign for the Mount Walker lookout. "Want to check it out?" "Sure!" With that, we took the exit and started heading up without really knowing what we were getting in for. It had been raining and kind of cruddy at road level, but as we started to drive, the fog got thicker. The road was narrow, the visibility was very short, and we were noting that this was the part in the horror movie where someone flew out of the trees and smacked into a window. The road seemed to go on forever, twisting and winding, ever upwards, and we had to pull over at points to let cars come down. Finally, we broke through the top of the clouds into sun that we hadn't seen all day. Another half mile and we finally came to the top and stretched our legs, walking to the lookouts. It was glorious, the mountain tops emerging from seas of cloud, vanishing and reappearing as the clouds shifted. We spent about half an hour at the two lookouts, happy for sun and to be walking for a bit, then returned to the car to make the long way down. We noticed there's also a trail leading to the top, so it would be a neat hike, though probably quite a hill climb. As a car detour, it's a reasonable hour when you go up and down, but hiking would probably take a couple of hours. Worth it for some great views, I think.