Tunnel Creek - Dosewallips Trailhead

Tunnel Creek Trail has two trailheads. The south side trailhead is on the Dosewallips Road, but its notoriously steep grade to 5050 Pass means it is seldom used. Try it and you’ll find out why.

Year-round access from a 500 foot elevation trailhead on a reasonable road ought to help this end of the Tunnel Creek trail see more use than it does. So should the views of Mount Jupiter along the way. But its reputation and a review of the compressed contour lines deter many who should try the trail.

Yes, it is steep; picking up 4,550 feet in 3.2 miles (6.4 miles round trip to 5050 Pass). The grade is far from uniform. Some series of climbing turns ascend ridge noses at punishing grades of 35 to 40 percent. More moderate traverses then help your legs and lungs recover and lure hikers forward only to shift into yet another steep stretch.

Gamm Creek at about two miles is the only source of water along the south side. A stop here to fill up on water and to view the pleasant waterfalls just above the trail can leave hikers doubly refreshed. About 50 yards past Gamm Creek the trail crosses a 15 yard-wide slide of fine scree. Watch your footing.

The trail now mixes steep stretches with slightly lees steep ones. The south-facing slope gradually opens up as you get closer to the cusp of the ridge. From here the trail continues to climb through an undulating set of sub-ridges to 5050 Pass.