[moonspots]

I'm looking for a trail in, or near Olympia that has some elevation gain. Just 50 or 100' would be fine, just want to get some conditioning back for an upcoming mountain hike. My son and I hiked up to Pebble creek, then another trail in the goat rocks wilderness area yesterday, and that was great, but it's a long way to drive just for some leg work. Thanks in advance... To thank all who offered suggestions: Friday I tried the trails in DuPont, sorta...had to get back to pick up grandson. But I did get to the 1.25 mile point, then crossed the creek and headed up the zig-zag trail a while before I turned around. Going back tomorrow. Today my son and I did 7+ miles going to Mima Falls and back. Shared the trail with other hikers/runners, bikers and equestrians. All we encountered were pleasant and polite. 👍 Then after leaving the trailhead, I wanted to see the shooting range. 😳 Wow, that is a serious shooting hobby! We talked with a couple of the guys, and had a very pleasant visit. All around, quite a fine Sunday! 👍

[awilsondc]

Best elevation gain in the area is Rock Candy Mountain in Capital Forest.

[Ski]

Capitol State Forest. South Side. Somewhere on here is a TR I wrote up years ago: HERE Get ahold of DNR's office and get a current road/trail map as both change radically after timber harvesting activities. Millersylvania (farther down I-5 toward Centralia/Chehalis) is pretty flat. Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge is all at sea level, but fabulous.

[Pyrites]

Watershed Park. Nearby, Sequalitchew Creek at Dupont City Hall has 200-300’ gain.

[MyFootHurts]

The trail from Evergreen College down to the beach is 150' and 2 miles round trip.

[Jaberwock]

The switchbacks up to the capital from the lake has gotta be around a hundred.. South side of Tumwater hill has some trails that go to the school on the top, probably 200ft gain. Trails on north side of Summit Lake have probably 200 or 300 ft to the top. Kaiser Rd trails have 400 ft to the top or 600 if you trespass.

[kite]

several loops at priest point park from the north parking area that around 100'

[moonspots]

Thank you, all! Some good resources for certain. I think I'll go take a look at Evergreen first (it's closeby). My son took me for a hike on those trails a couple of years ago when he was still a student there. But we didn't go down to the beach. I didn't know about any trails from the lake to the capital, another good idea for a day hike. I think the Capital Forest idea is great, but I'll wait until he can go along, on a weekend. And the Nisqually refuge trails are a fine way to spend a couple hours or so. Grandkids used to like to go there, but they have "places to go, people to see" and all that. Thanks again!

[moonspots]

[moonspots]

[ForbinsAscent]

If you haven't been there yet, LBA Woods is a delightful new (mostly undeveloped) park in town, recently purchased by the city of Olympia. It has a whole network of trails to explore. The trails even appear on phone apps that use Open Street Maps data. One day I walked four miles there and I don't think I ever repeated any trail segments. There are not a lot of hills, but I did manage to find one or two small hills over on the western side. One day last winter you would have seen me with a loaded backpack running up and down one of those small hills in a silly attempt to get a workout!

[moonspots]