North Fork Skokomish Fire Before and After (5)

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.

These images are from the Staircase Bridge … a concrete bridge that runs across the river to the ranger residences and the return trailhead of the Staircase Loop trail … (well, the return trailhead depending on which direction you choose to hike).