Frost Lookout Trail (4W310)
Frost Mountain Trail (4W310)
Distance: 1.18 miles
Running Time: Approx. 20-25 minutes one way
Difficulty: More Difficult.
The Frost Trail is a short (1.18 mile) trail that runs up hill to the site of the old Frost Fire Lookout tower. There are a couple of very steep hill climbs and a few sections that have the usual tree roots sticking out into the trail. When wet this would be a very very difficult trail due to the hill climbs. When dry, this is a fairly easy trail. Stock Jeeps should not have any problems with the Frost Trail. The final 150 yards of the trail are a steep climb up to the top, and a little narrow with a drop off the right side that may have your passenger closing their eyes. To top it off, there is a gathering of rocks near the top on the left side of the trail that cause you to tilt a bit off-camber to the right. The trail tops out at around 5725' and offers a 360 degree view that includes Mt. Rainier and the Stewart range to the north. Due to the fact that this trail is well removed from the other trails on the Manastash ridge, it seems as though it gets little use and therefore it is in good shape.
Getting There:
From Ellensburg: Follow Umptanum road west 1.66 miles and turn right onto Manastash Road (there is a school here on the right) Continue west on Manastash Road (which turns into FS31) for 21.5 miles where you will cross a small bridge. After the bridge turn left and continue on FS3100 for another 3.15 miles. The Frost Trail is on the right and as of 6/28/06 there was a trail head marker here.
Get directions from your location with Google Maps.
GPS Data File: Frost.zip (Includes GPS waypoint list, TPO, GPX and map)
Printable map: Frost-Buck.pdf (includes Buck Meadows Trail, 3.5mb)
Camping:
