Upper Salmonberry River Trail

The upper Salmonberry trail hike is a ‘must do’ in the sense that there is no telling how much longer portions of the defunct railway will remain.

In my opinion, the gain in popularity of the trail and very good road conditions at this point in the season have moved this hike from a status of "low congestion" to moderate.


PROS:

Current road conditions are very good. Even from Cochran Pond to Beaver Slide Road. (Also, someone spray painted BIG white arrows along the road Wheeler & Wheeler Pond roads to Beaver Slide Rd.)

The trail is pretty tame overall, with a few spots that have the potential to be dangerous. A plethora of obstacles & distractions, allowing you to make it as epically adventurous as you’d like.


CONS:

If you only stay directly on the path along the tracks, you won’t “get away from it all” (but you’ll away from it some).

We dropped a vehicle at Cochran pond and drove to a parking area on Beaver Slide road. At 7:30am there were 3 vehicles parked at Cochran Pond, and much to my surprise, by 8am, there were already 7 trucks and small SUVs parked at the bottom of Beaver Slide Rd.

We trekked east towards Cochran from tunnel #27, at the bottom of Beaver Slide Rd. We passed people on ATVs, a massive camp group, no less than 11 other hiking groups throughout the walk, met a few guys shooting' stuff in the woods, and hiked out a half garbage bag of other's trash.


HIGHLIGHTS:

Kinney Creek washout on the west end of tunnel #26 is filled with fun obstacles and an awesome view of the power of nature.

Tunnel #26 really shows the toll nature has taken on the tunnel system.

Wolf creek trestle emerges from the forest, seemingly out of nowhere, leading into tunnel #25. My favorite trestle ;-)

Around the half-way point between tunnel #25 and Big Baldwin trestle, on a small overgrown prairie, 20-30 yards north of the tracks, we stumbled upon a memorial.


NOTES (my ranty, preachy thoughts):

Please don’t attempt to burn plastics in the camp fires (haul it out).

Leave “plastic water bottles” on store shelves.

If you have the presence of mind to bring TP into the wilderness, please remember to bring a trowel to BURY it (away from water sources… and for God’s sake more than 4 feet from the trail)!!!

Take out what you bring in. If you see other’s trash, haul it out if you can.