Northwest Washington Hikes: Max's Shortcut

If you're familiar with the world of The Hobbit, you'll remember the story of "Bilbo's shortcut," which as it turns out is no shortcut at all. Well, this is one thing Max's Shortcut has in common.



It was a beautiful weekend and I was rearing to go play outside. Just the previous week, my chemistry professor had recommended this hike to me, so I was carried there. Several years ago, on my first hike ever in the Chuckanuts, my friends and I accidentally took Max's Shortcut on a failed trip to the Oyster Dome.* We ended up finding a logging road which we followed until we found a spectacular view of the ocean and (ahem) the Oyster Dome about four miles in the distance. Hm...



Anyways, four friends, two dogs, and I drove to the upper parking lot late in the afternoon. We followed the road up a mile or so (don't miss a surprise view of Baker to the right!) before we hit the intended trailhead. It was called the Alternate Incline Trail: a nice steep ascent and one great workout.



We wandered, we examined mushrooms and random railroad ties, I chased the dogs. It was a very lovely fall hike. We went by Lily Lake (that's not a lake!!!) and sat down for a little bramble fire. I made s'mores and we ate dinner. After thoroughly putting out the fire, we tromped down the mountainside via Max's Shortcut... in the dark! My friends were familiar with the trail, so I followed them. We had flashlights and headlamps, but often we find it more adventurous to keep them off. However, we did turn them on after about an hour and a half of stumbling and tripping off the trail. Right in the nick of time! Our hidden turn was ahead and we found it. We took one detour and had to backtrack a bit, but we found the parking lot no problem.



Lily "Lake":

So if you're interested: From I-5 take the Alger exit (#240) and go west for about a half mile. Turn left on Barrel Springs Rd. for another .7 miles and turn right on Blanchard Hill Road. One can park at the first sign for Lily and Lizard Lakes, this is a good place to park if you have a horse trailer. Another option is to pass the horse trailer parking area and ignore the Lily and Lizard Lake Trailhead sign and travel about two miles up the road, staying right. There is another parking area after the sign that will be visible on the left side of the road. After parking, you walk along the road continuing upward for about a mile and a half or so, then the incline trail will be on your left. Have fun!


*There is a way to reach the Oyster Dome from the east side of the mountain, but we did not find that way.