Silver Star Mountain

One of our favorite wildflower destinations for a somewhat local day hike is Silver Star Mountain in Washington. From mid June to mid August, this six mile loop puts on a splendid flower show. Botanically speaking, it's an oddball area, created by a huge forest burn about 100 years ago. Many of the now established plants are usually found at higher elevations, making a visit to the area even more rewarding. The trail starts at 2,950 ft. and reaches the 4,390 ft. summit in about three miles. Sweeping views of Mt. Adams, Rainier, St. Helens, and Hood just add to the appeal of this hike.

To reach the Silver Star trailhead, one must be determined! It's only 30 miles east of Vancouver; but the last seven miles of road is more like a steep, dried up creekbed, with car-sized pot holes and large rocks sticking up out of the ground. A high clearance, all wheel drive vehicle is a must. It took us an hour to navigate this portion of the drive. On the bright side, once you get there, no parking permit is required. Yet, the hike remains popular, with busy weekends and its own Facebook page.

We enjoyed favorable weather on our visit to the mountain this time (June 30), with a cool start and a sunny, clear day, with few other hikers on the route. We logged about 25 wildflowers, five of which we had not seen before. And after a long day on the trail and cursing the Forest Service about the terrible road, we did what any respectable explorers would do: stop in at the nearest brewpub and replenish our spirits.

Here's a few of our favorites from the hike - to see all of them follow the link at the bottom of the post.

Open Meadows of Gray's Lovage on Ed's Trail

Harsh Paintbrush galore near the start.

Explorer's Gentian peeking out of the brush.

Deep Canyon off Ed's Trail

Columbia Lewisia in the rocks here and there.

Open meadow on return loop with paintbrush and lovage.

Links:

Our Complete Photo Gallery

Oregon Hikers Page

Wikipedia Page