Three Forks Trail

Three Forks is an 8.5-mile out-and-back from Deer Park to the Gray Wolf River valley. Start by the campground loops, walk about 0.3 mile east on Deer Ridge through an open meadow, then turn right onto the Three Forks trail. The route drops to the Gray Wolf River Trail junction near Three Forks camp; you return the same way. Go for a long mountain descent that ends at a backcountry river camp. Skip it if you want an easy stroll: the climb back is the hard half.

Plan on about seven to eight hours. The descent loses roughly 3,300 feet, and every bit of that climb is waiting on the way out. This is a strenuous day hike, not a gentle walk to the river.

The first half-mile after the turn is the steepest and stays exposed on the ridge, with views into the interior Olympics. It can feel hot there. Once the trail enters the trees, the grade settles into a long, more even descent. Near the bottom, switchbacks carry you toward the river camp. They are the same switchbacks you will climb on your return.

The route is dry. There is no potable water at Deer Park or along the descent. Bring enough for the full day; a filter lets you refill from water at the bottom before the climb back.

The destination is a backcountry camp with a large open shelter, a privy and tent sites. Gray Wolf Camp is across the river. Treat the Gray Wolf River Trail junction as your turnaround unless you have planned a longer backcountry route. An overnight stay requires a wilderness camping permit. Dogs and bicycles are not allowed on park trails.

Deer Park sits in the drier eastern Olympics, in the rain shadow of the range. During the last ice age, glaciers covered much of the peninsula but left some high places less glaciated; those mountaintops became refuges for plants and animals found only on the Olympic Peninsula. Olympic chipmunks and Flett's violets are among the local endemics. As you descend, the open high country gives way to forest and then the river valley.