2.2 hr
Overview
This Washington state park straddles both sides of the Jackson Highway, an old pioneer route. First, just south of Mary’s Corner, you can stop at the John R. Jackson House, an extensively reconstructed log cabin built in 1845. This was one of Washington’s first two state parks. Lewis & Clark State Park is just south of here; it is gated mid-fall to mid spring, but you can walk in and enjoy the towering trees, one of the largest old growth stands of Douglas-fir and western red-cedar in the Puget Lowlands. On the west side of the highway, the Trail of the Deer and the Old Growth Trail take you on meandering routes under some awe-inspiring conifers. On the east side of the highway, unsigned equestrian trails (closed to horses for six months of the year) wander through more old growth. Unfortunately, two-thirds of the park’s huge trees crashed down during the 1962 Columbus Day ice storm, so what you see is a mere remnant. When emigrants came through here on the “northern extension” of the Oregon Trail (sometimes known as the Cowlitz Trail), they had no way to saw through the massive fallen old growth, so they built ramparts up and over the logs for their wagons. The campground/day use area of the park is also worth exploring, with some interpretive exhibits and structures built by the Civilian Conservation Corps during the Great Depression. There is also an Old Growth viewing platform and interpretive area off of the Jackson Highway north of the main entrance.
Trail Stats
7.7 km
104 m
174 m
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Photos
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