Blackberry Mountain by Devils Mountain sits inside the Walker Valley ORV Area. It’s also midway between Arlington and Sedro-Woolley near Lake Cavanaugh. To the northwest lies the Big Lake community by Mount Vernon.
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Blackberry Mountain at a Glance
Access: WV-13 @ Peter Burns Road
Round Trip: 3.7 miles
Elevation Range: 560′-1080′
Gear: none
Route Info: Dustin Wittmier
GPS Track: available
Dog-Friendly: yes
Driving Through Peter Burns Road
The drive to the starting point was smooth sailing until after turning onto Peter Burns road. Past the turnoff, many potholes showed up and slowed us down quite a bit. Then we saw several ORV groups by the trailheads to start the day.
Now that we were in the logging area, trees soon thinned out half a mile from where we parked. Even Blackberry Mountain’s east slope had lost a big chunk of forest. Before leaving the gate, I chatted briefly with a man from an ATV group.
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Walker Valley ORV Recreational Area
The ORV activities all took place east of the main road. So we were the only ones past the gate since vehicles couldn’t enter anyway. Despite the open terrain, we were still in the mists and couldn’t see much past the clearing.
We reached the end of the clearing past the mile 1.5 mark, where we followed a trail into the trees. It was decent but covered in trailing blackberry vines. Then right before the path dipped, we scoped out a few spots before plunging into the brush.
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Blackberry Mountain Summit Plus Exit
We dodged massive blackberry bushes by hugging the trees and ferns. But it wasn’t any worse than the typical brushy hills we often visit in the off-season. Then, in about 600′, we stood on another treed, indistinct high point.
After taking photos, we returned to the clearing by the road. Clouds had lifted earlier to view the nearby peaks, including Mount Washington (Skagit). Soon, we were back at the gate after the dogs got a mud bath in the wetland.
See more trip photos here.