At A Glance

TRAIL LENGTH: 7 miles, round-trip

ELEVATION GAIN: 805 feet

HIGH POINT: 781'

BEST TIME TO VISIT: Year-round

POPULARITY: Moderately used

GOOD FOR: kids, beginner hikers 

WATCH FOR:  no cell reception

FEES & PERMITS: 

NEAREST RANGER: Verlot Public Service Center

 

COORDINATES: N48° 06.166' W121° 54.960'

LOCATION: In Snohomish County, near Granite Falls.

HIGHLIGHTS: Lime kiln remains, scattered artifacts

HISTORIC SIGNIFICANCE: The lime kiln was located along the Everett Monte Cristo Railroad. It was once used to convert local limestone into powdered lime for use in the mill at Monte Cristo. 

 

DrivingMapLester

Driving Directions

FROM GRANITE FALLS:

  • Head east on 96th St NE
  • Turn right on S Alder Ave
  • Turn left on Menzel Lake Rd
  • Turn slight left on Waite Mill Rd
  • Stay left until you reach the Lime Kiln Trail sign
  • Turn left into the parking lot

Trail Directions

FROM THE PARKING AREA:

  • Walk to trailhead kiosk
  • Follow the trail through second growth forest.
  • After about .6 miles turn right at the intersection with an old logging road.
  • Follow the trail, which is now an old, through mixed forest.
  • After about .5 miles, the trail passes next to a forested wetland.
  • Continuing 500 more feet, the trail crosses a bridge.
  • About 150 feet beyond the bridge, take a trail to the off the old road to the left.
  • Descend down a trail for another .25 miles
  • The trail then parallels the river for another 1.5 miles through second growth forest, where it passes the lime kiln and other assorted artifacts.
  • After 1.5 miles the trail makes a small, .3 mile loop, where you can see where the railroad once crossed the river.
TrailMapLester

THINGS TO SEE:

  1. Lime Kiln ruins
  2. Remains of the railroad bridge

History

Researching primary materials is just as exciting as finding the actual places where the history took place, but it's a slow and challenging process.  Exploring History in Your Hiking Boots will be including gems below as we find them.