This is an abandoned trail. Only come here if your navigation is up to the task of finding your way where there is no path to follow, and practice Leave No Trace to avoid damaging fragile terrain.

In days gone by, the Taidnapam people used to climb up Backbone Ridge and the Cowlitz Divide to reach what is now Indian Bar from what is now Packwood. The upper portion of this route is now known as the Cowlitz Divide section of the Wonderland Trail. The lower portion of Backbone Ridge, from near Packwood up to Stevens Canyon Road, was maintained as a hiking trail up until 2006, when it was closed due to a bridge washout. I visited there in 2021 and found it still easily passable.

But what about the middle portion of the trail, from the southernmost apex of Stevens Canyon Road up to the Wonderland? Caltopo shows this trail on their historic 1915-1945 map layer, but it's not included on any more recent maps.

So I set out to hike it.

The trail is... sorta still there in places. Old. Overgrown. MUCH fainter than the lower section that's described on this site as Backbone Ridge. I made heavy use of multiple navigational techniques, which frequently contradicted each other:

• GPS.
• Historical research to find an old map that showed the trail.
• Experience recognizing faint remnants of ancient trails.
• Repeated use of the "aiming off" technique to rediscover the trail after I lost it.
• Common sense.

This site normally lists trail distances as out-and-back, but I am only showing the one way distance for North Backbone Ridge, because when I reached the top where it intersects the Wonderland there's no way I could have hiked back down the same way. I mean I guess in extremis maybe I could, but I REALLY didn't want to! Luckily I had seen this coming and stashed my bike at Box Canyon, so I was able to complete my hike more easily by hiking out down the Wonderland (2.8 miles, 1770' elevation loss) and then cycling back to my car (5 miles, 600' gain, 220' descent).

This site normally also includes photos to help you identify the start of unmaintained trails, but I'm not doing that here because I both started and finished the hike slightly lost, navigating by bearing. Maybe the trail doesn't quite still exist at either end, or maybe I just missed where it does. Either way, anyone who needs pointing to an exact location really shouldn't be hiking here :-)

Navigational notes: start north up the top of the ridge. Trust your navigation when the map says to drop down to your left, then follow a contour NNW. Turn NE and traverse across a slope - you'll want to make sure you're on the actual trail here as this slope is STEEP, and although the trail is narrow and somewhat sketchy, it's much better than trying to offroad this area. Cross a stream, head due E a bit, then NE and climb steeply as forest gives way to open patches with views. Upon reaching the top of the ridge, follow it N and then NW until you intersect the Wonderland. Navigation remains challenging even on top of the ridge as it's mostly treed in and littered with knolls, dips and divots that attempt to confuse.

Costs of this hike:

• Although the stats don't seem excessive, the terrain is exhausting. So much sidehilling!
• Sap all over everything from fighting my way through dense pine thickets.
• Scratched up legs from all the shrubbery battles.
• One hornet sting.
• I carried 4 liters of water, filtered one more near the end, and that was barely enough. The area is hot and mostly dry, so be sure to carry plenty.

Reasons to hike here:

• Deep solitude, of the kind that makes regular solitude feel crowded.
• Knowing you visited a place that has been walked by more Taidnapam than European settlers, and more frequently hundreds of years ago than within the last 50.
• Getting to put the first accurate description of the trail online. Except, you won't get to do that because I already did! Muahaha.

This trail won't be for everyone, but exploring it felt good for me today.