Difficulty: Easy
2 miles round trip
This last weekend we hopped in the car and headed up to Joyce, Washington to visit some cousins. One of the things we did while there was visit the Punchbowl on the Spruce Railroad Trail, along Lake Crescent. There are several things that make this hike a-maz-ing! First - the lake is the most clear, beautiful turquoise lake you will ever see: Second - an old railroad tunnel: Third: cliff jumping. Need I say more? And, this hike is so easy that we had the littlest of little with us and everyone just did it in their swimsuits and flip flops.
After hiking along for little shy of a mile there is a rather steep, rocky hill to the right that you will veer off the trail and climb up.This is the only part of the hike that really made me wish that I had on my tennis shoes instead of flip flops, but it was well worth the climb! At the top is the entrance to an old tunnel that was originally going to be part of the railroad. It is helpful, but not completely necessary, to have a light with you - thank-goodness for all the apps on cell phones!
The scoot down into the tunnel is pretty steep, and we just slid down on our fannies, but once you get into the tunnel it's opens up into a very large cavern. The floor is strewn with old railroad ties and debris. It's not very long, just stay to the far left and hug the wall if you don't have a light with you to keep from stumbling over all the ties. It's a pretty steep climb back out, but so fun to do, especially if you have a haggle of kids with you like we did.
Once you get back down to the trail, hook back around to the left, as doing the tunnel bypasses the punchbowl where the rest of the afternoon can be spent jumping into the most amazing water I have seen in a lake. If you would like to continue hiking first, head to your right and the trail continues on the lake for another 3-4 miles and you can catch a swim on your way back to the car.
The water here is very deep, so don't be afraid to head all the way up to the top of the rocks to jump if you are brave enough - only a select few of our group was.... ya know, the crazy teenage boys. Most of us were just jumping off the bridge or lower levels of the cliff. That's good enough for me! It was A LOT of fun.
Directions: From Port Angeles follow US 101 west for 17 miles to the Olympic
National Park boundary. Turn right onto East Beach Road (signed "Log
Cabin Resort, East Beach"). Follow this narrow paved road for 3.2 miles.
Just beyond the Log Cabin Resort, turn left onto Boundary Creek Road
(signed "Spruce Railroad Trail"). Follow it for 0.8 mile to the eastern
trailhead. Privy available.
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