Pacific Crest Trail Government Meadows

This short section of the Pacific Crest Trail makes for an easy out and back trip. A look at the map shows you could even start on either end of the hike. The highlight is the shelter at Government Meadows. Backcountry camping is also good at the shelter. Expect that in August, the PCT hikers are coming through so there could be others camped.

An important major road crossing of the Cascade Crest north of Chinook Pass is a gap called Pyramid Pass. This pass is just one mile north of Naches Pass, the original and historically famous route pioneers took to reach Puget Sound. Naches Pass does have a road but it is a jeep trail. But FR 7080 that goes over Pyramid Pass is a gravel forest road that most vehicles can drive if care is taken. At an elevation of 4,860 feet, the pass is lower than Naches Pass and Chinook Pass. It is a forest road but technically, it is also State Highway 168.

State Route 168 is a legislated, but not constructed, state highway. The highway is meant to serve as an alternate crossing through the Cascade Range, supplementing the seasonal Chinook Pass on SR 410. Proposals were first drawn up in the 1930s, and the highway has been codified in law under its current designation since 1970, however no construction has occurred. The highway is legislated to begin in Greenwater on HWY 410 going over the mountains to Cliffdell on Hwy 410. The two main reasons for creating the highway would be an all-season route with limited avalanche danger, unlike Chinook Pass, the other to allow commercial vehicles to bypass Mount Rainier National Park, where they are prohibited.

Pacific Crest Trail FR 7080 to Government Meadows

Pacific Crest Trail
FR 7080 to Government Meadows