Parking
Park at the Staircase parking area and cross the bridge over the Skokomish River to the signed trailhead. Van-accessible parking is available. Staircase Road is open year-round as weather permits and may be gated in snow.
Overview
About Big Cedar Trail (Staircase)
Why go
- A short, gentle gravel walk reaches an unusually large fallen cedar.
- The wide path and modest grades make the approach less demanding than most park hikes.
Heads up
- The walk is a short spur, and the return follows the same path.
Map & elevation
The route
Loading the Olympic map
Full mapElevation787–796 ft
Plan your hike
Before you go
Parking
Safety
6 active Olympic alerts
- CautionUS 101 Hoh River Bridge reduced to one laneUS 101 at the Hoh River Bridge is restricted to one lane of alternating traffic; obey the signals and 25 mph speed limit.Official details
- ClosureStaircase wilderness trails and campsites remain closedWilderness trails and campsites around Staircase remain closed during recovery from the Bear Gulch Fire; the developed Staircase area, including the Rapids Loop, campground, and ranger station, is…Official details
The highest, rockiest slopes around here are a summer buffet for grizzly bears.
Olympic Tour Guide
Your drive to Big Cedar Trail (Staircase), narrated.
Parkwolf is a GPS audio tour guide for Olympic National Park. As you drive, it chimes in with what’s ahead: hidden gems, upcoming stops, history, geology, and wildlife, right through your car’s speakers.
See the Olympic audio tourRecorded for this trailhead
Staircase: Rapids and the Fallen Cedar0:00 / 0:31
“Up ahead is Staircase, where I’d choose the Rapids Loop for a short outing beside the North Fork Skokomish River.”
Plays as you drive up to this trailhead in the Parkwolf Olympic Tour Guide.
More stories near here in the app
- The Bark That Holds Back Heat
- Lake Cushman Site Five: A Picnic by the Water
- Salmon Around the Cushman Dams
- 204 audio storiesacross Olympic’s roads, triggered by GPS as you drive
- Wildlife heatmapsfor Olympic Marmot, Humpback Whale, Grey Whale, and 13 more
- Works offlinemaps, 148 trails, 94 places, and audio download before you lose signal
- CarPlay readysimple controls built for the drive
“Fantastic app with many points of information… It’s great to just turn on while you’re driving and it gives you an audio tour of the national Park. We love it!!!!”
Trail guide
Hiking Big Cedar Trail (Staircase)
A short walk to a huge cedarBig Cedar Trail is an easy 0.
Big Cedar Trail is an easy 0.42-mile out-and-back from the signed start beyond the Skokomish River bridge. Follow the compacted-gravel path along the Staircase Rapids route for about 690 feet, then turn left at the junction for the final 410 feet to the tree. Allow about 20 minutes for the walk and a pause at the end. The 0.42-mile total includes the return; the one-way leg from the signed start to the cedar is about 0.2 miles.
The pathThe trail is 6 to 8 feet wide for most of the approach, with grades generally under 5%.
The trail is 6 to 8 feet wide for most of the approach, with grades generally under 5%. It dips and climbs back over the first 140 feet, where two very short sections reach 8%. At the junction the path narrows to 6 feet. Start at the signed trailhead after crossing the bridge from the Staircase parking area; the tree spur is the left turn.
The fallen cedarThe destination is a fallen western red cedar whose trunk is about 14 feet in diameter, beside…
The destination is a fallen western red cedar whose trunk is about 14 feet in diameter, beside a smaller living cedar. A 2014 storm brought down half of the big tree; both the fallen section and what remains standing are still there. Stay on the ground and do not climb on the tree. From beside the path, including the gravel and ferns in a photo helps show the trunk’s scale. Pets are not allowed on park trails.
Wildlife
Wildlife in Olympic
710 sightingsOlympic MarmotMost seen around 11 AMSighting map
30 sightingsHumpback WhaleMost seen around 6 PMSighting map
42 sightingsGrey WhaleMost seen around noonSighting map
23 sightingsMountain LionMost seen around 8 PMSighting map
71 sightingsMountain GoatMost seen around 7 AMSighting map
306 sightingsBald EagleMost seen around 11 AMSighting mapSighting maps show where each species has been reported across Olympic. Wildlife moves, so no sighting is guaranteed.
