There are so many different trails to do in Washington that
I think it is humanely impossible to attempt to do all them in a single
lifetime. If one walks into a
Seattle Barnes and Noble there are several hiking books that describe and inform
about hikes in Seattle or very close to Seattle. One of those books, 60
Hikes within 60 Miles (2nd ed.) is a great option to follow if
one wants to attempt the Poo Poo Point trail for the first time. Over the year that
I have lived in Seattle, I have built of an endurance to walk almost endlessly
on flat surface with the right shoes (I have walked 18.5 miles in one day before), but
I would like to start incorporating more inclines; so I have been motivated to
attempt more mountain trails.
The Poo Poo Point trail (go ahead and giggle like a 12-year old about the name for the trail) has a
lot of unsigned junctions and it seemed to be easy to get lost in the first .25
miles of the trail. Therefore, I strongly advise getting a very detailed
description of the trail; unless, you are all for hiking spontaneously all over
a mountain. Wandering aimlessly on a mountain is not me, because I don't carry a compass, cannot use the stars for direction, and was not a Girl's Scout so I have zero skills for gathering and hunting. Basically, I would be the first person to die in the Hunger Games. The
trail is rated as difficult for the incline, mileage, and the wonderful
switchbacks; however, there are a couple of areas that are mostly flat. The
trail was mostly dirt and gravel with a few dirt steps.
Poo Poo Point Trail is located on Tiger Mountain and offers a
lot of forest and plant life on the trail. There are a couple of bridges and a little water (creek). It
was a little warmer than what I would like for a hike but the weather
provided clear skies, which equals a great view once at the top. A potential
added bonus that Poo Poo Point offers is getting to see paragliders launch from
the top (unfortunately there wasn’t any
launching during our visit). Additionally, there is an outhouse at the top
if you are not one to pop a squat in the woods and it has hand sanitizer in it.
The approximately 8-mile roundtrip hike is not a loop. I
hiked on a weekday, and there were several people on the trail but it never got
congested. Additionally, there are two main trailheads to this trail: one at
the high school and one right before I-90 ramp; we did the latter one.
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| View from the summit of Poo Poo Point |
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| View from the summit of Poo Poo Point |
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| The green landing area is where paragliders launch from |
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| This is what a lot of the trail looks like (lots of green and trees, narrow path) |
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