Middle Point Ridge

Just minutes from downtown Dayton, Middle Point trail offers a vigorous hike to high meadow and forest views of the Blue Mountains as it climbs the spine of Middle Point Ridge.

The Middle Point Ridge Trail immediately crosses the North Fork Touchet River on a wooden bridge passing by a campsite along the riverbank. The trail starts as a mellow stroll through deep woods but after 0.3 mile begins to climb reaching a switchback with views up and down the valley at mile 0.9. Take a break here to stretch and enjoy the views because the grade steepens gaining 1100 feet in the next rocky mile.

After twisting up the hillside through basalt outcroppings the trail reaches the crest of Middle Point Ridge and enters a burn that scorched the forest in 2006. The grade lessens but in the recovering under-story is often overgrown and brushy.

Continue along the ridge through occasional high meadow with views toward the rugged interior of the Blue Mountains. At mile 3.6 the trail becomes a 2-track and at mile 4.0 attains a flat-topped knoll, the high point of Middle Point Ridge, a great spot for a break before returning the way you came.

WTA Pro Tip: In winter, Middle Point Ridge trail often begins snow free but makes an easy to follow snowshoe route as it climbs.