Cinnamon & Toutle Trails

9.3 miles of hiking • 2500' elevation gain •

The Cinnamon and Toutle Trails orginate at the Kalama Horse Camp near Mt. St. Helens National Monument. The Cinnamon trail is on a ridge that paralles NF-81 from the Kalama Horse Camp and terminates at Red Rock Pass. There are some spectacular views that can be had of Mt. St. Helens, when it's a clear day, but today was anything but that. We initially drove past Ape Canyon and attempted to access NF-81 so we could park at Red Rock Pass, but the gate was locked! The best views of Mt. St. Helens from the Cinnamon trail are closer to Red Rock Pass, but we abandoned this access point and went back to Kalama Horse Camp.

The horse camp was quite crowded, but the Cinnamon Trail was almost devoid of people, except for two groups of hikers seen during the entire hike! The Cinnamon trail climbs continuously for over 3+ miles and gains over 2000ft, but it's not an aggressive climb compared to some of the Gorge hikes. As expected, and unfortunately, there aren't as many views from the western side of the Cinnamon trail, and the weather didn't help. We did have some great views of Goat Mt and was afforded a glimpse of the base of Mt. St. Helens. There were a few remnant patches of snow at about 4000ft on the trail, but the road (facing north) that climbs to a parking area had a nice slushy snow coat of about 2 inches. The parking area that is just off the trail is obviously used by some shady people as it was littered with shotgun and pistol shells. Shooting in this area is complete negligence, in my opinion, as they would have to be facing the hiking trail or shooting in space past the cliff!

On the way back we did bump into a small group of three hikers that were completely unprepared for the weather and wearing T-shirts and not moving quick enough (more like wandering around) to overcome the elements! The temperature was in the 40's with a slight wind and high humidity (some drizzle). Maybe I'm just getting old with a malfunctioning thermostat! : )

Also on the way back I noticed a tree which was splintered and fallen over. It only took a second before we noticed the shotgun shells at the base of the small tree and closer inspection of the splintered wood revealed tons of buckshot embedded in it! : ( I really don't know what it is about some people that come to these beautiful places and feel it's their right to destroy everything with their guns and leave the ammo scattered everywhere. Absolutely no respect for the environment and probably not concerned about the possibility of shooting hikers that happens to be in the area. This is also the same area that my wife and I came upon a campfire left burning with nobody tending it and in the dry season! Of course, my wife and I put it out. As long as I'm on topic, I should mention that NF-81 is a total zoo during hunting season and I would stay clear during that season!