Tidal marsh, Willapa Interpretive Art Trail (bobcat)

Extinct birds memorial, Willapa Interpretive Art Trail (bobcat)

Labyrinth, Cutthroat Climb Loop (bobcat)

Stile, Cutthroat Climb Loop (bobcat)

• Start point: Willapa Refuge Trailhead
• End point: Upper Cutthroat Creek Crossing
• Trail log:
• Hike Type: Lollipop loop
• Distance: 1.1 miles
• Elevation gain: 330 feet
• High Point: 275 feet
• Difficulty: Easy
• Seasons: All year
• Family Friendly: Yes
• Backpackable: No
• Crowded: No

Hike Description

The Willapa Interpretive Art Trail heads along a winding boardwalk above a tidal flat and restored salmon spawning stream in the Willapa National Wildlife Refuge. The wildlife art, created by students from the University of Washington Public Art Program, is explained in a brochure available at the refuge headquarters. Past the stream, the Cutthroat Climb, a loop trail with its own artistic embellishments, winds up the lush slopes in secondary woodland.

Pass through the ornate “phytoplankton” entry gate and notice the large-scale model of a salmon skeleton. The curving boardwalk above a tidal mud flat simulates the natural course of a stream. The particular stream here was restored as a chum salmon and cutthroat trout spawning ground after decades of being dammed. Pass carved mini-totems depicting local wildlife and then a pond. Veer right to walk along a feather-topped memorial to extinct North American avifauna, including the Labrador duck, Carolina parakeet, dusky seaside sparrow, and heath hen. Go left on a spur to an overlook on the creek. The main trail crosses the creek under cedars and hemlocks. Fifty salmon silhouettes glint in the alders.

Here begin the Cutthroat Climb, a 2/3 mile loop. Go up rough steps and then make a left at a junction. Drop and walk over five footbridges in a soggy creek bottomland. Note the large nurse stumps here. Head up more rough steps to an abandoned road bed and go right under alder, Sitka spruce, and western hemlock. At a crest, indulge in a walk around the labyrinth. The trail drops past a sapsucker, one of twelve colorful native bird sculptures that also point the way on the trails. Cross the creek on a footbridge, rise, and then drop into a gully. Sword fern cloaks the verdant hillside here. Rise again and traverse past huge stumps before navigating a stile over a fallen tree. The trail drops on log steps and then winds down to the loop junction, whence you will return to the parking area via the meandering boardwalk.

Maps

• Maps: Hike Finder

Fees, Regulations, etc.

• No pets allowed: National Wildlife Refuge
• Restrooms in the visitor center; brochures available

Trip Reports

• Search Trip Reports for Willapa Art Trail Hike

• Willapa Bay Walks

Related Discussions / Q&A

• Search Trail Q&A for Willapa Art Trail Hike

Guidebooks that cover this hike

• none

More Links

• Willapa Art Trail (Willapa National Wildlife Refuge)
• Willapa Interpretive Art Trail (Willapa National Wildlife Refuge)
• Willapa National Wildlife Refuge
• Willapa Refuge Art Trail (Washington's Long Beach Peninsula)
• Cutthroat Climb Trail (Illuminations from the attic)
• Hiking the Cutthroat Climb Trail - Willapa National Wildlife Refuge (Illuminations from the attic)
• Hiking in Willapa National Wildlife Refuge (Seattle Backpackers Magazine)
• Friends of Willapa National Wildlife Refuge

Contributors

• bobcat (creator)