Name: Rainshadow Trail
Rating: 3.7

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Dogs No Dogs

Features Birding · Fall Colors · Views · Wildflowers

Family Friendly While this trail's moderate to strong grades may deter families with children, its short length and panoramic views make it well worth it.

Description

This short self-guided loop trail to the top of Blue Mountain has panoramic views of lowlands and mountains. The trail is named for the fact that Blue Mountain is in a rainshadow- all of the moisture from Pacific storms is dropped as clouds rise over Mt. Olympus and the Bailey Range.

Because Blue Mountain is on the dry, eastern side of the Olympics, it gets about 18 inches of rain per year. Compare this to places the Olympic's western slopes (like the Hoh Rain Forest) which can get 140 inches of rain.