Area: Middle Fork Snoqualmie

Length: reconfigurable 5.3 (2 to 12)

Elevation: 950 +256 -130

Condition: good, partly maintained

Solitude: high

Appeal: low

Features: easy, quick access, day use

Difficulty: easy

Administered: North Bend RD

Trailhead: Middle Fork Trailhead

Connects to: Middle Fork Trail,
Pratt River Connector

Guides: KShh, DMSnoq

Maps: Green Trails Mt Si; USGS Mt Si

 

Overview

This piece of history is obscure for two reasons: it is fragmented, and it doesn't go anywhere in particular. Back in the Franklin D. Roosevelt years, it was important as a "make work" project to combat unemployment after unregulated financial speculations caused national markets to collapse (sound familiar?). Though the courts struck down the program, the relics remain — the network of roads to tree stumps, with the CCC road along the lower slopes as the backbone of the road network. Parts are in remarkably good condition. Because nobody else has a particular reason to go there, you can have this pretty much to yourself.

Coverage here is only on the upper part, on the north side of the Middle Fork bridge crossing at road mile 5.7. There are still over six miles of additional road you can explore, extending southwest all the way to the Mt. Si road near Mt. Teneriffe. Please don't obstruct driveways of residents along that road if you park at that end.

 

 

Details

This is a good place for taking young kids with little chance of trouble. There are two quite decent access points. For the first, drive the Middle Fork road 12.4 miles and park at the day-use lot on the right, opposite the entrance to the Taylor River RV campground. For the second, with much more available parking, stop at the Middle Fork Trailhead lot on the right at 12.0 miles. Instead of descending to the river, cross back over the main road and look for the CCC access trail almost straight across from the trailhead lot.

This area is "heavily managed" but it was done with some care, and the area appears healthy. There is a rich mossy blanket under the heavy canopy.

I favor the Taylor River access because it leads to a little, safe, clear little creek at 1/4 mile that kids will probably love but is otherwise unimportant. A creek crossing at 1.5 miles is more of a project, but it too is a mere stone-hop when water levels are low.

Another creek crossing at 1.5 miles is a little more of a project, but it too is a mere stone-hop when water levels are low.

At 2.3 miles, a section of the old CCC road is obliterated by the current Middle Fork road. Continue along the side of the road 0.4 miles and find where the CCC road, now looking a bit rougher, slants away again. This is the quietest and wildest section, with little creeks and no little wheels.

My stopping point is beyond, at mile 5.3, at a junction with the currently-maintained road that provides popular access for vehicles to reach slash roads on higher slopes.