Silver Star Mountain

Silver Star Mountain is a great hike near Washougal. The 

hike is steep at times, but the views from the top are

hard to beat. Even in the dozens of hikes we have gone

on in the Gorge, Silver Star takes the cake. Even though it was

overcast and we could only see the valley it was still wonderful, 

but on a clear day you can see over 100 miles in every direction.

There were several rocks outcroppings 

along the hike that would be fun to try and climb.

This little creek was a great break a few miles

into the hike. 

The creek flows under this bridge.

Arwen was prancing through the woods

and came out with this fern attached to her.

But that wasn't going to stop her, she walked with it

for the next several minutes until it finally fell off. 

Many of the trees scattered the path. They all have

a unique curve like they came from a Dr. Seuss book. 

Finally, the summit. It sits just under 4500 feet. Again, the views

are better than any we have ever seen.

Sum on the summit.

Sum and I at the summit. Just behind us is Sturgeon Rock.

Getting ready to make camp and have some 

hot soup for lunch. It was in the mid 60's at the base of 

the mountain. At the summit however it was about 20

degrees colder and we shivered the whole time. 

Looking to the North from the summit. 

One of the many wildflowers along the hike.

If you would like to do this hike yourself here are the directions. After taking Hwy. 14 to the town of Washougal, we turned left at Milepost 16 and followed the Washougal River Road, which paralleled the river for 6.9 scenic miles. We turned left once more onto Bear Prairie Road and continued for 3.2 miles, then turned left again onto Skamania Mines Road, continuing on for 2.7 miles. The road then split (follow the left one- Road 1200) which turns into a gravel bumpy road for another 5.7 miles to Grouse Creek Vista. Keep an extra eye out for oncoming traffic as this is a pretty narrow 1.5 lane road!