North Fork Skokomish Fire Before and After (1)

The Olympic National Park opened up the Staircase Rapids Loop Trail on July 8th for the first time since the fire in 2025 devastated the area. The valley of the North Fork Skokomish was one of my favorite locations and I went to take photos of the area on the 8th. Each set of photos shows the same location before and after. Some images aren’t exact matches … but I did as well as I could with the images I had. The Staircase Loop Trail leaves from the Staircase Ranger Station, runs 1 mile (1.6 KM), crosses the river (on a bridge that was protected from the fire) and returns back to the parking lot.

The first set is from an overlook close to the trailhead (but slightly off the trail).

Up River View Before
Up River View After

The second set is of the Slate Creek crossing. The wood single stringer bridge is completely gone.

Slate Creek with Bridge (before)
Slate Creek Crossing with No Bridge

(Note the woman on the left for scale)

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Ridge and Panorama

Ridge Above Slab Camp Trail

These are the last shots from my recent trip up to Deer Park in the Olympic National Park. In the panorama below, the three valleys (from left to right) are the Graywolf River, Cameron Creek and Grand Creek. Where they all run together is the Three Forks Shelter.

Panorama Looking South from the Slab Camp Trail
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Trees, Mountains, Clouds

Trees, Mountains, Clouds (1)

These shots were taken along the Slab Camp Trail out of Deer Park in the northern section of the Olympic National Park. Deer Park is in the subalpine area and is reached by an 8 mile drive on a steep, narrow, dusty road.

The Slab Camp Trail runs just at the upper edge of treeline for much of its upper end. You get these peeks out through the trees over to the peaks of the ridges along the Graywolf River.

Trees, Mountains, Clouds (2)
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Views of the Slab Camp Trail

Slab Camp Trail (1)

The Slab Camp Trail runs from the subalpine meadows near Deer Park in the Olympic National Park down to Slab Camp on the Graywolf River in the Olympic National Forest. We just hiked the mile and a half from Deer Park to the park boundary, only dropping 600 feet of elevation. Once in a while we had some clearing and views, but most of the afternoon we were hiking with clouds blowing over the ridge, cutting our view down to the local environs. Just happy that it never rained.

Slab Camp Trail (2)
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