Over Memorial Day Weekend, we backpacked for the first time on the Upper Dungeness Trail. The trail was absolutely stunning and not overly crowded, making it a great getaway for the weekend. Last weekend, I wrote up a post about exploring the Olympic Penninsula, check it out here.
Trail Difficulty
Alltrails.com lists the Upper Dungeness Trail to Camp Handy as a moderate but highly rated trail. We felt that the trail was well maintained, fairly well blazed, and only included about 700′ of elevation gain. We thought the 3.2 miles to Camp Handy was actually fairly easy for anyone looking for a nice day hike. With our 25+ pound backpacks, we made it to the camp in about two hours.
Past Camp Handy, though, the elevation steadily climbs. Camp Boulder, about 6 miles out, is around 5000′ above sea level. Since the trailhead starts at around 2500′, that’s a 2500′ climb. We only made it to about 4300′ with about four hours of total hiking (again, with 25+ pound packs). We are in decent shape but not totally in-shape for backpacking.
Sightseeing along the Dungeness Creek
The main attraction along the trail is the creek after which the trail is named. The Dungeness Creek is a beautiful, clear, blue creek that tumbles over rocks as it makes its way down the mountains. The white rapids along the trail indicate how quickly the water moves. Though beautiful, danger lies below the surface.
At Camp Handy, the creek widens out such that you can play in the ice-y cold water if you dare. Otherwise, the water tastes amazing, as long as you treat it or boil it before you consume. We used a Sawyer Squeeze system for filtering water for drinking.
Hiking from Camp Handy to Boulder, the trail offers stunning views of snow capped mountains, side streams that feed into the Dungeness Creek, and expansive valleys.
Camping at Camp Handy/Handy Camp
Though AllTrails calls the trail “Upper Dungeness Trail to Handy Camp” the maps refer to the campground as Camp Handy. There are no signs in the campground itself, so we kind of just stumbled upon it on our way in. If we had passed the trail down, the meadow of Camp Handy likely would have been visible through the trees if we had been paying attention. However, since we knew we were close to the camp, we knew what to look out for.
There were probably about twenty or more tents hidden throughout the camp. There is a shelter at the back of the main meadow, facing the Creek. We pitched out tent in this meadow. Other backpackers pitched their tents in the trees. There were likely many, many more spots for tents in the camp, despite the busy weekend on the trail.
However, we were very glad we camped at Camp Handy instead of Boulder, as while we were hiking up to Boulder, we passed other hikers that said the camp at Boulder was snowed in and completely full. Being that we didn’t even make it up to the top, we were very glad we had already made the decision to stop at Camp Handy.
The camp was very quiet, despite how full it was. Other people were very respectful, even though there were a few off leash dogs wandering the camp (and barking at new comers). We would recommend bug repellent, as there were quite a few mosquitos in the meadow at dusk.
Bear vaults are required, though we heard that it was more for raccoons than bears. We rented a bear vault from REI for $7 for two nights. At night, we stashed it up the hill from the camp.
Permits and Fees in the Olympic National Forest
Camp Handy did not require a camping permit, though a recreation fee was required for the parking area. You can get an annual pass that works for all Forest Service governs sites in Oregon and Washington for just $30.
Some sites do require that you obtain a permit through Recreation.gov and passes may be limited at various times (such as during COVID-19). If you cannot get a permit for one of the more popular hikes in the Olympic National Park, or in the National Forest (ie, Royal Basin, which is along the Upper Dungeness Trail), Camp Handy is a great alternative.
If you want to see more of the trail, check out our channel on Youtube: