Mount Si Trail

📍North Bend, Washington (7.9 miles / 3,395 ft)

🐾 Yes! We even met someone who did this with his cat.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ This was a quad-busting sufferfest. We loved every second.

Why we picked it

When my cousin suggested hiking Mount Si over the weekend, we said yes immediately. Normally, I hesitate at anything with a massive elevation gain. But I was still riding high (literally and figuratively) after crushing Snoqualmie Valley Trail and figured: when in Washington, go uphill.

I even had the ridiculous idea that we could trail run it — jog the flats and downhills, hike the climbs. The only problem? The entire trail is uphill. Not a flat stretch or gentle decline in sight. Just straight up.

We hit the trailhead around 7:30 a.m. and found plenty of parking. It was more crowded than expected, but we weaved around folks quickly and got moving.

The CLIMB

I was in awe of the scenery. Towering evergreens. Moss dripping from branches. Tree trunks wrapped like gifts from the forest. It felt like we were on a set for a fantasy movie. The trail itself was in great condition — steep, sure, but well-maintained and easy to follow.

We reached what looked like the top: a big rock clearing with people snacking, taking selfies, and celebrating the summit. I was ready to call it, but Ryan wasn’t convinced. “AllTrails says this isn’t the top,” he said. “I don’t think this is the Haystack.”

Prior to the hike, my cousin had warned us about “scrambling the haystack” to get to the true summit, casually dropping the line: “Just don’t be one of the people who has to get rescued.” LOL, right? But this summit hardly looked like somewhere I’d need rescuing.

Then we wrapped around a bend… and there it was: the Haystack. “Scramble” is a generous word. This thing was like a vertical cliff face. You definitely had to have a strategy to get up it and the heavy fog didn’t help with visibility. It was sketchy. Like, actually sketchy.

I made it five feet up before mentally locking up. I had no clue how to safely get back down, and my cousin’s warning was playing on a loop in my brain. Eventually, I figured out a way to climb down (pride only slightly bruised). Ryan got about a third of the way up before wisely calling it quits.

A Cat. On His Back.

We started heading down feeling a little defeated — until we passed a guy wearing rock climbing gloves on his way up. “How far did you get?” he asked. When we told him, he nodded. “That was about how far I got my first time. I didn’t know what to expect and had my cat on my back.”

He was back to try again — this time solo. Obviously.

We jogged down the trail, already planning a rematch. Mount Si, you got us this time. But we’re coming back.

🧭 AllTrails – Trail Map (This isn’t the exact route, but it’s part of it.)

Check out more trails in our Happy Trails section.

Got a favorite hike or ride in the area? Drop it in the comments — we’re chasing dirt.