Timber companies lobbied to keep Dark Divide—the largest roadless area in western Washington—from becoming wilderness. Photo © Daniel Dancer.

By Susan Saul
Forest Magazine, July/August 2001

“It came to me that this trip was about many more divides than the physical I’d just crossed. There was the great gulf between differing visions for the future of the forest and the fine line separating the land of the living from that of the dead and gone.” —Robert Michael Pyle, Where Bigfoot Walks: Crossing the Dark Divide

Dark Divide. The name suggests mystery, and perhaps more sinister implications. A land alive with legend. The heart of the storied ancient range of Bigfoot.

The “divide” part of this roadless area’s name is no mystery. Octopus–shaped Dark Divide contains more than 76,000 acres of steep, open, mile–high ridges and two old–growth forested valleys on the divide between the Cispus River and Lewis River drainages in the Gifford Pinchot National Forest in southern Washington. The east–west divide ridge links Mount Saint Helens and Mount Adams.

While “dark” could be derived from the black toothy knobs that line Dark Divide’s ridges, it is neither sinister nor geologic. John Dark was a late–nineteenth–century miner who roamed these ridges and valleys in search of gold. His name stuck to Dark Mountain, Dark Meadow, Dark Creek and, eventually, the Dark Divide Roadless Area.

The showpiece of Dark Divide is fourteen–mile–long Juniper Ridge, with its dramatic views of five major Cascades volcanoes. Juniper Ridge and its neighbors were swept by the huge Cispus fires of 1902 and 1918. A hundred years later, few trees have returned to the ridgetops, leaving miles of flower–rich meadows and huckleberry fields.

The open landscape whispers of other times: ridgetop peaks like Juniper, Sunrise, McCoy, Badger and Craggy that are the roofs of ancient volcanoes. Deeply scoured canyons, cirques and moraines left by long–vanished glaciers. Peeled cedars, stone tools and fire–cracked rocks from prehistoric hunters who walked these ridges and valleys long before today’s trails were constructed.

Dark Divide failed to gain protection in the Washington Wilderness Act of 1984. Powerful timber interests hungered after the 500–year–old forests of the Quartz Creek and Clear Creek valleys on the Lewis River side of the divide. They convinced Congress to leave the Dark Divide unprotected. Today those ancient forests are protected from logging as late–successional reserves for the northern spotted owl and other old–growth–forest–dependent species under the Northwest Forest Plan.

The gravest threat to the Dark Divide comes from motorized recreation. The U.S. Forest Service, funded by Washington state’s gas tax rebate program, has persisted in promoting and expanding motorcycle use on the Dark Divide’s trails. The scenic ridges and deep forested valleys are linked by a network of ninety–four miles of trails; all but ten miles are open to motorized use.

These trails were built after the Cispus fires for use by fire patrols on foot and horseback, so they were not constructed to motorized standards. Motorcycle tires have eroded the deep, feather–light pumice soils into knee–deep ruts in the trail tread, parallel tracks mar the steeper slopes, and scars in meadows show where users have taken their machines off–trail. Water runs down the ruts, wearing them even deeper and silting streams.

The steepness and difficulty of the trails have kept motorcycle use moderate. The Forest Service has proposed improving many of the trails, however, to make them more accessible for less–experienced riders. The agency also wants to build new trails that would link Dark Divide trails to another system of motorized trails on nearby ridges, creating a huge network of interconnected motorized trail loops that would make this a destination recreation area for motorcyclists from all over the Northwest.

Without motorcycles, the Dark Divide could be a refuge for animals displaced by logging in the surrounding forests. Deep forested valleys and open ridges are ideal habitat for a wide variety of wildlife. Peregrine falcons are making a comeback on the high cliffs of Tongue Mountain and northern spotted owls nest in the forests below. Elk, deer, cougar, wolverine, bobcat, black bear and mountain goat inhabit this wild country. Occasional wolf sightings suggest that these animals may eventually recolonize the area.

Hikers and horseback riders can enjoy the scenic vistas, wildflowers, huckleberries and wildlife—until a motorcycle roars by. The aversion hikers have for sharing trails with motorcycles has played into the Forest Service’s hand. When there are no hikers, there are no complaining letters; therefore, they say, hikers have no interest in these trails, so let the machines roar.

That’s why the Washington Trails Association hosts an annual Dark Divide Hiking Weekend and Campout. The goal is simple: get hikers direct boot–on–trail knowledge of the Dark Divide so they will become advocates for the area and will be able to write well–informed personal letters in favor of wilderness protection and restoration of motor–free trails.

Susan Saul is a volunteer with the Washington Trails Association.

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