Osborne Mountain by High Hut overlooks the Nisqually River Valley. It sits by the east border of Tahoma State Forest. Moreover, the neighboring Sawtooth Ridge harbors one of the famous lookouts in the state: High Rock Lookout.
See more trip photos here.
Osborne Mountain at a Glance
Access: Big Creek Campground
Round Trip: 9 miles
Elevation Range: 1800′-5051′
Essential Gear: none
Route Info: Joanne Najdzin
GPS Track: available
Dog-Friendly: yes
Playlist: Hopeful
Return to Gifford Pinchot National Forest
The peak sits on the west fringe of Gifford Pinchot National Forest. High Hut in the Tahoma State Forest is to the direct west. The forest service website had put up a notice of the seasonal Road 52 closure. But it was wide open despite Google Maps’ effort to reroute us.
There wasn’t much room to park by the closed gate to Big Creek Campground. We crossed the bridge and were shortly by a fallen bulletin board at the trailhead. The muddy trail took us through the wetland before entering the old forest.
See more trip photos here.
Traversing Northwest Ridge via Big Creek Campground
The altitude picked up as the path weaved through tall timbers and gutted switchbacks. At 1.8 miles was an old washout with a new path below it. Before reaching the trail fork, I checked out the tree on a rock with a plaque. We then left the path and scrambled through the northwest ridge.
Views were sparse, with Mount Adams in the distant south. Before long, we reached the clearing in thin snow at the end of Road 8410. It stayed on the ridgetop until it began dipping through south of the summit. Then, it was 100′ in the dense foliage over the cliffs to the top.
See more trip photos here.
Looping Through Osborne Mountain Trail
The only opening on the windy summit faced Mount Rainier, plus the sheer High Rock. Below the snowline were places we could visit without snow gear before the next snowfall. Meanwhile, I savored views in subfreezing weather as Connor continued to roll in the snow.
I opted to drop onto the steep south and return through Osborne Mountain Trail. Lo and behold, the dramatic Sawtooth Spires shortly emerged when we reached the road. The trail from the saddle covered in tire tracks soon took us back west around the crest to hike out.
See more trip photos here.