Kamilche Hill by Capitol State Forest lies in Washington Coastal Hills. It stands at 1200′ in the Capitol Hills region. Despite the modest altitude, views atop reach as far north as the Olympic Mountains and east to Mount Rainier.
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Kamilche Hill at a Glance
Access: West Delight Park Road (access info)
Round Trip: 7.2 miles
Elevation Range: 280′-1214′
Gear: none
Route Info: Scott Rice
GPS Track: available
Dog-Friendly: yes
Kamilche Hill
I stumbled on this small hill looking for a place with low rainfall. But all I can say is that the snow needs to start melting soon. Otherwise, we’ll quickly run out of lowland hills to visit.
In the morning, we drove up to the open gate. Then I read the sign closely. Glad I did because the area didn’t allow motorized vehicles. So I parked before the entrance, and we started walking.
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West Delight Park Road
The road also took on another name–Mainline Road. It extended west from Highway 101 past our starting point. Then it overlapped with West Elson Road for .3 mile before it ended abruptly. This is a tidbit of knowledge I likely won’t remember.
The roads were in great shape from the frequent use by the logging rigs. We walked past a few houses initially and soon saw a few trucks by the first junction. The three Green Diamond Resource Company workers were the last people we saw.
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3000 Road to Kamilche Hill
Later we came up to an unnamed pond that wasn’t on the map. I let the pups soak in the water for a bit before continuing. Like many logging areas, we walked past many spur roads. Then we went on 3000 Road at a few more junctions.
The road took us up to Kamilche Hill’s north saddle before continuing downhill. Going south on the crest first and reaching the top would be great. But I didn’t feel like scrambling through the dense forest.
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The Final Stretch
I didn’t want to drop altitude to the next fork since we’d regain it over several switchbacks. But as we rounded the north ridge, we came upon a clear-cut section. So we followed deer trails through light debris to reach the upper roadway.
We could have walked south on the road to the radio facility. But I decided to go up to the high point first. So we went on the ridge and worked through more debris to reach the top shortly.
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Kamilche Hill Summit
The woodsy summit didn’t give much to see. So we stood there for a few seconds. Then we went to the radio tower 500′ away. The facility, Kamilche 2 Benchmark, was shorter by a whopping three feet.
We were in the shade on the way up, so we soaked in the much-needed heat as we ate by the fence. It’s hazy off in the distance. But on a clear day, we’d have a better view of the Olympics and Capitol State Forest.
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Outro
The seating area was brushy. So on the way down, we stopped on the side of the road. There we had a panoramic view to the east. Isabella Lake was just to the north. But the hills blocked our sight of Kamilche.
Later we went down to an opening on the crest. It gave views to the west. Then we enjoyed a quiet walk on the roads. Despite the gorgeous weather, it was surprising not to see people out and about enjoying the day.
See more trip photos here.