On U.S. Route 101 between Forks and Port Angeles, Washington, turn left from eastbound/right from westbound between Mileposts 216 and 217 where indicated by signage for Mount Muller Littleton Loop Trailhead
Proceed 0.30 miles/0.50 km to the parking area and trailhead on the right
Although the site of much human activity in the early to mid-1900s, including logging, mining, and a slash fire escaped from the valley below, Mount Muller continues the gradual recovery of its woody, many-layered mantle. The mountain’s 13.00-mile/21.00-km loop trail arcs through varying habitats, from the lush, leafy woodland at its feet, the slender-columned conifers stretching up its flanks, to the blooming meadows, stunted forests, and distinctive stone outcrops strung along the cloud-swept peaks of its coxcomb ridge before descending again through similar strata to the trailhead where it began. Whether hiked clockwise or counterclockwise, the trail climbs steeply up one end of the mountain and, even after attaining the ridge, repeatedly loses and regains elevation along its undulating crest before dropping as sharply down the other end. Throughout, posted signs confer whimsical monikers on various points, e.g., Miners Crossing, Nosebag Point, Crow Caw Flats, etc. When the clouds that frequently gather on the mountaintop permit, its ridgeline meadows afford views down the Sol Duc River Valley below and on to snowy Mount Olympus and even Mt. Baker to the extreme northeast. This profile follows the loop trail clockwise, as suggested by signage at the trailhead.
Although encounters with others on the trail are infrequent, it is a multi-use trail open to hikers, mountain bikers, and equestrians alike. Around the trail’s many bends and hillocks, bikers may be heard before seen; if curiously swift voices approach from beyond sight, be sure to move aside so that all users can coexist without mishap.
Littleton Creek murmurs softly through the leafy lowland forest near the trailhead before continuing on its own path. Mount Muller Loop, Washington.As the trail ascends (and, on the opposite end of the loop, descends) the mountain’s drier midland slopes, the forest quickly shifts from deciduous woodland to coniferous stands, clearly second-growth trees from their uniform size and dense distribution, but beginning to resemble a more mature woodland with a healthy understory carpeting the floor and a middlestory of smaller trees developing among the slender, unbranched columns that support the overarching canopy. Mount Muller Loop, Washington.Just over 3.00 miles/4.80 km from the trailhead, the trail reaches the ridgeline and curves eastward, alternating between rolling meadows with increasingly sweeping views and close forest dwarfed by the harsh conditions of higher altitude. Posted signs name each meadow, most after Forest Service workers who made the trail, e.g., Jasmine, Allison, Milsap, and Markham, as well as Jim’s Junction on the mountain’s western crest, where the Snider Ridge Trail connects to the North Point and Kloshe Nanitch approximately 3.00 miles/4.80 km westward. Mount Muller Loop, Washington.An assortment of wildflowers brightens the mountain’s woodland shadows and sky-topped meadows, including, top row, left to right, blueleaf, Virginia, wild, or, common strawberries (Fragaria virginiana), Cascade Oregon-grapes (Berberis nervosa), Cascade desert-parsley (Lomatium martindalei), vanillaleaves, or, sweets-after-death (Achlys triphylla), western fairy slippers (Calypso bulbosa var. occidentalis), dandelions (Taraxacum spp.), white avalanche-lilies (Erythronium montanum), Lyall’s, or, little mountain anemones (Anemone lyallii), and kinnikinnick (Arctostaphylos uva-ursi); center row, Pacific bleeding hearts (Dicentra formosa), red elderberries (Sambucus racemosa), Utah honeysuckle (Lonicera utahensis), Smith’s fairy bells, or, fairy lanterns (Prosartes smithii), spreading phlox (Phlox diffusa), salmonberries (Rubus spectabilis), Oregon, or, redwood wood-sorrels (Oxalis oregana), harsh paintbrushes (Castilleja hipsida), and oval-leaf blueberries (Vaccinium ovalifolium); and, bottom row, Pacific trilliums (Trillium ovatum), two-leaved false Solomon’s seals (Maianthemum dilatatum), star-flowered false Solomon’s seals (Maianthemum stellatum), evergreen, or, redwood violets (Viola sempervirens), hookedspur violets (Viola adunca), pioneer, or, stream violets (Viola glabella), red-flowering currants (Ribes sanguineum), yellow avalanche-lilies (Erythronium grandiflorum), and small-flowered blue-eyed Marys (Collinsia parviflora). Mount Muller Loop, Washington.At Mount Muller’s higher elevations where recovery from past clear-cut logging takes place more slowly, the teeming second-growth forest has yet to finish thinning itself to the more natural, lushly layered woodland that has returned farther down the mountain, leaving the ridgetop littered with debris and bereft of most other life. Mount Muller Loop, Washington.At approximately 5.00 miles/8.00 km from the trailhead, short side trails lead to Mount Muller’s summit and to Panorama Point (shown here), which offer expansive vistas topped by Mount Olympus. Mount Muller Loop, Washington.From Panorama Point and the increasingly rocky slopes beyond, the view soars eastward across Lake Crescent. Mount Muller Loop, Washington.On a clear day, Mt. Baker (in this photo, what appears to be a small cloud on the horizon) can be spied away northeast across the Salish Sea. Mount Muller Loop, Washington.Along the open ridge and and down its eastern slope, jagged rock formations jut from the trailside like petrified, lantern-jawed ogres. Mount Muller Loop, Washington.Approximately 8.00 miles/12.80 km from the trailhead, a short side trail leads to another notable stone feature: Fouts Rock House, a naturally occurring stone lean-to formed by two garage-sized boulders. From inside, the views out either end illustrate its ample capacity to harbor not only two- but likely four-legged creatures on occasion. Mount Muller Loop, Washington.At approximately 9.00 miles/14.50 km from the trailhead, the trail drops abruptly to a paved private drive. Turn right onto the road (do not cross the bridge) and continue for approximately 0.25 miles/0.40 km, keeping a wary eye for the trail to diverge to the right and continue into the forest. Mount Muller Loop, Washington.The remaining 3.00 miles/4.80 km of the trail are flat and often within earshot of Highway 101’s whir, traversing the verdant lowland forest that hems the mountainside. Mount Muller Loop, Washington.
