Hikeoftheweek.com

Quick Facts

Location: Columbia Highlands, Ferry County, WA

Land Agency: Colville National Forest

Roundtrip: 8.0 miles

Elevation Gain: 1,200 feet

Access: From Republic travel east on SR 20 to trailhead at Sherman Pass.

Contact: Colville National Forest, Republic Ranger District (509) 775-7400; www.fs.fed.us/r6/colville

From the state’s highest pass crossed by a state highway, amble along the lofty Kettle Crest across miles of high-country meadows flush with flowers to an historic lookout. Enjoy sweeping views of the Sherman Creek Valley, bulky Kettle River Range summits and the unbroken swaths of forest east cloaking King Mountain and the Twin Sisters. Conservationists are busy (and hopeful) that all of this will soon be included in wilderness—something that should have happened in the omnibus 1984 Washington Wilderness Bill—but political maneuvering left it out.

A long range of mountains at the transition between the Cascades west and Rockies east, the Kettles are part of the Columbia Highlands—a rich ecological area that still harbors grizzly bears, wolverines, wolves and lynx. The golden ridges of these gentle giants hop with herds of deer. And on Columbia Mountain you can hike back into history to one of the oldest fire lookouts in the west, to a time when rugged fire keeps sat watch during the nascent days of the Forest Service.

Built in 1914, during the Wilson Administration, the old fire lookout cabin has endured quite a few blistering summers and blustery winters. And this year thanks to a Forest Service Restoration Project called Passport in Time, a handful of Forest Service employees and dedicated volunteers restored the old lookout maintaining its historic charm.

From 5,575-foot high Sherman Pass, follow the Kettle Crest Trail north for two miles to the Columbia Mountain Loop Trail. Then turn right and after a half mile of climbing through sun kissed flowered meadows, come to another junction. Go left or right—it doesn’t matter—the two mile loop just below the summit yields knock-out views in every direction no matter the direction you march off in.

Then afterwards be sure to take the .5 mile spur to the 6,780-foot summit. Emerge on the broad open summit with its newly restored nearly 100 year old lookout cabin. It has stood since the golden age of conservation and would proudly stand watch over a Kettle Mountains Wilderness!

For more information on hiking Columbia Mountain and conservation efforts in the Columbia Highlands, consult my Columbia Highlands - Exploring Washington’s Last Frontier book.