Ceder Butt and Back 4.75 Miles

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Cedar Butte, or Ceder Butt on the survey marker at the summit, is a small hill at the foot of Mount Washington. The Iron Horse trail wends around it on its way over Snoqualmie Summit. The Ceder Butt trail is very rooty, rocky, and narrow with lots of sallal, huckleberry, salmonberry, and other vegetative growth hugging and threatening to take back the trail. If it has rained in the last day or two it can be slippery, and you're guaranteed to come home with wet socks.

Gain the Iron Horse trail by crossing the road fronting the little parking lot and following the dirt path to the right up past the outhouses. After approximately one mile find the Ceder Butt trail on your right just as the Iron Horse trail starts to bend to the left. The first half mile is fairly steep with several log steps to secure the trail against erosion. At the half way point there is an overlook of the Boxley Blowout. The next half mile or more are very fun. The trail is mostly flat to gently rising, very twisty, and a bucket of fun to speed through. At the one mile (of the Ceder Butt trail) mark the path splits. Make sure to stay straight/left to gain the summit. The path now becomes steeper again as you navigate several switchbacks. Near the top you will skirt the edge of a very steep but wooded drop of several hundred feet - no missteps here please! Once at the top you may enjoy the view on a nice day, or the clouds on a not so nice day.