The Iron Goat Trail: A Guidebook

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Summary: Discover the Iron Goat Trail
Review: In the late 1800s, the Great Northern Railway laid tracks for the first train to cross Washington's Cascade Mountains, near Stevens Pass. Although the trip took an hour and 15 minutes to cover twelve miles of steep switchback, and avalanches sometimes trapped passengers for several days, the train ride through the rugged Cascades proved to be a breakthrough in the age of railroad travel.

Today hikers can retrace this historic route on the Iron Goat trail, named for the Rocky Mountain goat featured on the railway's logo. Since the dedication of the initial four miles in 1993, volunteers have nearly doubled the trail's length to 7.6 miles.

The Iron Goat Trail: A Guidebook, in its second edition, was complied by the Volunteers for Outdoor Washington. The guide covers the entire trail, including the new section from Windy Point to Werllington, to be dedicated in the fall of 2000. Recognized as a National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark, the trail is mostly barrier-free and accessible for all ages.

Hikers can start at either Martin Creek or the new trailhead at Wellington, a former townsite and location of the nation's worst avalanch disaster. Readers will be informed about how to reach the trail, the history behind the trail, a milepost by milepost journey along the trail, and the efforts in progress for the future of the trail.

Discover the spirit of tghe rail pioneers of yesteryear and the trail pioneers of today.