The Hurricane Hill Snowshoe Trail (Hurricane Hill Road to Hurricane Hill Route) is one of the premier snowshoe trails in the Hurricane Ridge area. The trail starts at the Hurricane Ridge Visitor Center and ends at the summit of Hurricane Hill.
During wintertime, the trail offers a beautiful walk through snow-dusted forests and gorgeous views of the snowcapped Olympic mountain range.
Content
Adventure Stats
Hiked on: November 25, 2022
Hike Time: 4hrs
Weather: 27F/18F snowy
Popularity: Medium popularity on Hurricane Hill Road, especially later in the day. Low popularity on the Hurricane Hill Route past the final parking lot
Route Finding: Medium difficulty. Easy if there are tracks ahead of you, otherwise off trail navigation could be helpful.
Trail Hazards: None
Key Sights: Mountains, valleys, snow
Gear Recommendations: Insulative boots recommended on Hurricane Hill Road. For the Hurricane Hill Route trail extension, snowshoes are recommended.
The Route
Distance: 6.2mi total (3.1 each way)
Elevation: +964ft/-492ft
Here are a couple sources for the route:
Trail Report
We were very excited to snowshoe at Hurricane Ridge on the very first day of it's 2022/2023 winter season this year.
On our drive over to the Hurricane Ridge Visitor Center, we kept checking the Hurricane Ridge Twitter to check when the roads would open. The National Park website reports that the roads could be open any time between 8am and 12pm.
Partway through the drive, we saw a tweet confirming that roads would be open before we got there!
We passed through the pay station at the entrance of Hurricane Ridge at about 9:30am with no snow on the roads yet. The road leading up to the Visitor Center was salted, with snow on the road about halfway up. We saw a couple deer on the drive up as well as on the drive down. When we drove out at around 3:30pm, there was no snow on the road.
We arrived at the Visitor Center at 10:00am and made sure to sign into the Visitor Center logbook. The entire way to Hurricane Hill, the sky was overcast, and we couldn't see much of the view.
The first 1.3 miles of the route followed Hurricane Hill Road, which is usually accessible by car in the summer. Hurricane Hill Road had a very gentle downhill grade. Today the snow on the ground was on Hurricane Road was thin and even patchy in some areas. We were able to use snow shoes the whole way, but in these conditions cross-country skis could be damaged by exposed asphalt.
Hurricane Hill Road passes by some bathrooms that are closed for the season as well as some outdoor picnic tables, which we ended up utilizing for a snack break on our return trip.
You know you've reached the end of Hurricane Hill Road when you get to a wooden trail information board.
We then continued on to the Hurricane Hill Route, which follows a trail up to the summit of Hurricane Hill. The snow was a lot deeper here. The Hurricane Hill Route had a steeper uphill grade, with several switchbacks leading up to the summit. Because the route was so steep, we had to stop and remove a layers several times throughout the section.
At the Hurricane Hill summit, we experienced really high winds and severe wind-chill. We quickly headed back down to a wind-sheltered part of the trail.
On the return trip, the sky cleared up, and we got gorgeous views of the High Divide mountain ridge.
After returning to the Visitor Center, I went to investigate rental gear, but it did not seem like the rental shop was open for the season yet.
Closing Thoughts
This was a pleasant snowshoeing route that got increasingly beautiful throughout the day as the skies cleared up. The Hurricane Hill Route was fairly challenging but offered very rewarding views.
I'm sure this route will only get more magical as winter continues on!
Hey Sarah! I found you on Alltrails! I was wondering, did you need to carry tire chains in your car to get to Hurricane Ridge? Would you recommend them?