Miles: 1.3 miles RT
Elevation Gain/Highest: 100ft/2260ft
Map: Green Trails No Mount Rainier East 270
Favorite Eats After Hike: Farelli’s Wood Fire Grill, Alpine Inn, Cliff Droppers, White Pass Taqueria, Fargher Lakehouse, or just Pack A Cooler. You can learn more about these places in my Must Hike Must Eat Eating Out Guide.
Find out current conditions and as always, practice Leave No Trace. Pretty please.
Hike details:
The Grove of The Patriarchs is a well visited trail just inside the Stevens Canyon Entrance to Mount Rainier National Park that offers a level path along the teal waters of the Ohanapecosh River and a loop through the giants of an ancient forest on raised boardwalk. It starts out on the Eastside Trail and drops down on a set of stairs to cross the river on a suspension bridge at .4 miles in to begin the loop. There are benches along the way to sit and admire the mammoth guardians of this ancient forest. The bridge to the Grove of The Patriarchs has been out since November of 2021 so you can not currently access this trail but construction is scheduled to begin in the summer of 2027.
My trip reports:
3/14/2021, 9.9 miles RT
I started out in the dark at almost 6am from the national park boundary where the road is closed 3 miles from the Stevens Canyon entrance, hoping to make use of the early morning hours to cover the road walk. The forecast held rain after noon, I hoped to be back to the car before then!
The road was compact snow and I kept my snowshoes on my pack. There were tons of tracks to follow and the hardest part was avoiding postholes from boots. As it was so early in the morning and below freezing, no chance of that for me.
At about 1.5 miles in, I passed the entrance to the Ohanapecosh campground and the day had broken. The skies were still clear which gave me hope I would avoid rain (or snow). The turn for Stevens Canyon arrived at 3.1 miles and I took the turn into the guard station.
The bridge over the Ohanapecosh came at 3.3 miles and it snaked on either side under piles of snow.
I was happy to see the vault toilets were open at the rest area and trailhead for the Grove of the Patriarchs at 3.45 miles. I noticed a small pile of discarded child sized gloves here and imagined what a long trek this would be for kids! I added my snowshoes here because, well, it was a snowshoe trip.
The trail next to the bathrooms was blocked with snow that has slid off its roof so it was up and over to reach the wide path on the other side. There were still quite a few tracks here, it looks like the loop has had many visitors over winter.
I reached the suspension bridge just shy of 4 miles in and gingerly made my way across the piles of snow. It was a bit narrow in places on the snow for snowshoes and where boots had postholed and sloughed off snow it was tricky.
The loop was easy to follow having been here last summer and with tracks to follow, I sat down with Big Cedar and enjoyed some hot lemon water and a snack. There was evidence of elk and the river passed by like the laughter of children.
Leaving the grove, I was back out at the Stevens Canyon Road at 5.1 miles, crossing to head down the Eastside Trail towards Silver Falls. The trail was bit narrower here and it appeared there had been fewer people on this section.
I reached the junction with the Silver Falls Loop Trail at 5.8 miles and took the left fork towards the falls. I was wondering if I would see anyone at the falls but it was empty when I reached spur for the viewpoint at 5.9 miles. Again, there were tracks but I must have picked a good Sunday to visit. The falls were cascading down, accented by the snow on either side.
Crossing the bridge over the Ohanapecosh at 6.1 miles, I headed back up to loop down to the Ohanapecosh campground, passing the hot springs at 7.8 miles in. It was interesting to see them at this time of year versus last August, they had a large range of colors and the water was not quite warm.
I took a look over the bridge in the campground at 8 miles and then passed by the visitor center and up to SR 123 again at 8.5 miles. The bathrooms here were not open at the visitor center. Then it was the long walk out on the road back to the car. I passed just 4 people headed in near the boundary for the park.
8/5/2020
After settling in at the Ohanapecosh campground, I drove up to the Stevens Canyon entrance to the Box Canyon overlook and on the way back I noticed that the parking for the Eastside Trail only had 5-6 cars (around 6:30pm) so I decided it was an opportune time to pay it a visit.
The wide trail was dry and powdery from thousands of footsteps and I passed a handful of hikers walking out. It offered a lovely view of the Ohanapecosh and the hand polished knobs and swirls of the giant trees as I walked along told the story of many others passing by before me.
The bridge across had more wiggle than I had imagined and I had to wait just a bit for my turn as it was one person at a time (in theory). A family was down on the large bank of the island on the other side enjoying the cool water flowing by.
The platformed loop didn’t take a long time to walk and I opted to not sit long at the nice wood benches due to the kids and yelling but I can see how this would be a good spot to sit awhile in silence (if you have it). Reading the kiosks offers a glimpse into the cycle of the forest and it has been 50 years now since the two sister trees that fell opposite directions, their large rootballs lining the trail. “If I go, then you go.”
Directions: Turning onto SR 123 from HWY 12 east of Packwood, WA, follow the road past the Ohanapecosh campground and turn left onto Stevens Canyon Rd. Passing through the Stevens Canyon fee station, the popular trailhead is located on the right. You will need an America the Beautiful Pass or pay an entrance fee into the park. There are bathrooms at the trailhead and the parking lot can hold 30-40 cars.
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