Mount Beljica
Region: South Cascades and Mount Rainier
Roundtrip Miles: 3.0 miles
Elevation Gain (feet): 1100
Best Month(s): July or September
Hikeable: June-October
Trailhead Coordinates: 46.7736, -121.9445 (Lake Christine Trail)
Pass: NW Forest + Wilderness Permit that you self-issue at the trailhead
Features: mountain views, wildflowers, wildlife, lake, fall foliage
Water: if you take the Lake Christine trailhead, you can filter lake water about halfway through the hike
Time: Plan on spending 2 hours
Summary: The view from the top of this hike is spectacular: Mount Rainier is right in your face, then you turn and you’ve got Mount Saint Helens and then another turn and there’s Mount Adams. It’s a breathtaking summit. I had the trail all to myself both out and back on a beautiful fall Friday morning, arriving at the trailhead at 10:30am. However, the road and trail leading to this reward are so bad that I probably wouldn’t do this one again. Once was enough.
The road up to the Lake Christine trailhead has plenty of potholes and large rocks. At one point you’ve got a steep drop-off on one side and some 3 to 4-foot diameter boulders on the other side (looks like they slid down from above). My half-ton pickup truck barely made it through this and it was sketchy and stressful to only have a few inches to spare.
The trail is narrow and sloped in many places. There was about 1/2 inch of snow on the last couple miles of dirt road leading to the trailhead. The lower half mile of trail had 1/2-1” of snow and the last mile up to the summit was more like 2-3” of snow.
It is 0.6 miles from the trailhead to Lake Christine (this took me about 20 minutes), another 0.4 miles to the trail intersection with the trail that comes in from the north (15 minutes). The two trails join and head up the steepest part for the last 0.4 miles (25 minutes). This final ascent has about 450 feet of gain alone. It is steep and full of roots. I’m short and I had to use my hands for parts of this. It was also extremely steep and slick coming down. I wish I had brought my microspikes due to the icy snow. I fell on my butt a couple of times. Coming back down, it took me 20 minutes from summit to trail intersection, then 30 minutes from trail intersection back to the trailhead.
Photo-wise, I was at the summit around 11:45 am and the sun was not quite right and created shadows as it was coming from my right when looking at the mountain. I think if I’d planned to be at the top around 2pm then the sun would have been perfect for no shadows on the puppers faces when taking photos with the mountain in the background.
Post-hike Food Stop:
- *Basecamp Bar and Grill (Ashford): burgers, pizza
Other Ashford/Elbe Attractions:
- Mount Rainier National Park
- Mount Rainier Scenic Railroad
- Little White Church
- Recycled Iron Sculptures
Note: The restaurants and breweries denoted with * are potentially dog-friendly for their outdoor seating. Their patio dining may only be open during summer, however. You should always check with each restaurant to see if outdoor space has a separate entrance and if they are willing to accommodate well-behaved dogs. I would never assume just because a place has allowed dogs in the past that this is still the case.
