Most early communities in the Northern Olympic Peninsula developed around sawmills, and the resulting up-and-down attempts at putting in what eventually became 600-700 miles of railroad that ran from Port Townsend to Port Angeles, to Lake Crescent and as far west as Sekiu, with a southern spur down south to Quilcene. The last of the railroad lines were discontinued in 1985, and the rails removed. Trains no longer run on the Olympic Peninsula.

Built by the Seattle, Port Angeles and Western Railway Company in 1914, the last train traveled across the Johnson Creek Train Trestle in 1983. In 2002, the trestle was converted to pedestrian use as part of the Olympic Discovery Trail.

The sign to the trestle, just a 2 minute walk from the parking space on Whitefeather Way. (I hesitate to call it a parking lot as it is more of widening of the road that will hold maybe 10 cars.)

A mural at the eastern end of the train trestle.

The graceful curve of the Johnson Creek Train Trestle, at 410 feet long and 86 feet high, the largest of the train trestles on the Olympic Peninsula. The extended platform you see in the back was originally used to hold water barrels in case of fire.

What I at first thought were fallen leaves turned out to be a metal sculpture.

Looking down over the Johnson Creek fish ladders built to assist salmon in their migration.

The moss covered trunk and branches of a fallen tree look a bit like monster fingers digging down into the earth. Or perhaps I’ve read one too many 1930s pulp fiction novels…

The western end of the Johnson Creek Train Trestle.

And because I love historical photos, here’s the Milwaukee No. 2217 work train at Sequim, 1915. Photo from the North Olympic Heritage — Bert Kellogg Photograph Collection.

Links of Interest:

• Olympic Discovery Trail map, East Central (from Blyn to Port Angeles)
• The Railroads of Jefferson and Clallam Counties, a comprehensive history of railroads in the Northern Olympic Peninsula

Location:

Access to the Olympic Discovery Trail, just off Whitefeather Way.