Mount Pilchuck State Park

About Mount Pilchuck State Park

Mount Pilchuck State Park is a 1,893-acre park with a variety of hiking, biking, camping, and mountain biking trails, as well as a state park. The main attraction of the park is the Mount Pil Chuck Trail, a path that starts at 3100 feet and climbs to 3500 feet.

The hike is exhausting and can be very busy in summer, but once you reach the top you can enjoy the view of Puget Sound and Mt Pilchuck National Forest.

The trail is usually covered in snow in midsummer, but there is also a historical plaque at the lookout. The most notable feature of the park is the fire station, a building that stands on the mountain and is a fire lookout. It is listed on the National Register of Monuments and acts as a museum with five information panels that identify the buildings and the mountains seen from the building.

The park is open all year round - with no restrictions on opening hours, but a USFS Trailhead parking ticket is required. It is located on the west side of Mount Pilchuck State Park, south of the Trailhead and a short walk from the Fire Station and the Fire Viewpoint.

The park is open all year round, with no restrictions on opening hours, but a USFS Trailhead parking ticket is required.

In 1918, the forest administration built a fire lookout on the top of Pilchuck, and the word "Pilchuck" comes from the words "Pilchucks" for the mountain, an allusion to the high elevation of the summit.

The summit is far from the main chain of the Cascade Mountains, but is a long, snow-capped ridge as described by the US Forest Service (USFS) and the Oregon Department of Natural Resources.

From 1957 to 1980, the ski resort was operated by a concessionaire and managed by Washington State Parks. In the 1960s, a guard post was occupied by the US Forest Service and the Oregon Department of Natural Resources, and in the 1980s it was closed due to the worst annual snow conditions.

Currently, the area is managed in partnership with the USFS and Everett Mountaineers, and the historic observation deck is maintained by National Park climbers. The path itself is maintained by a forest farm, but there is a small, uncovered picnic and camping area near the trail. Pilchuck has geological significance as a mountain of shale rock with a number of geological features such as craters, ridges, rugged rock formations and volcanic eruptions.

A number of hiking trails, connected by a series of lakes and streams, offer visitors alpine fishing and hiking. In the winter months, the higher altitudes offer snowshoeing and mountaineering, and in the summer mountain biking and snowmobiling.

Take I-5 to Exit 194 between Snohomish and Wenatchee and follow signs to Granite Falls. Go east one mile, turn right onto Mountain Loop Highway and continue east to Verlot. Turn left at the sign and drive through the parking lot and into the park for about two miles.

Continue along the 6. 9 km (.6. 4 mile) trail to Granite Falls State Park, about 1.5 miles south of Verlot, and then north to Mountain Loop.