Iron Goat Trail

The Iron Goat Trail follows the old Great Northern Railway grade over Stevens Pass, about 35 kilometres west of Leavenworth near the former townsite of Wellington. The 6.5-kilometre interpretive trail passes through snowsheds, tunnels, and switchbacks built in the early 1900s — remarkable engineering for its time, now mossy and atmospheric.

The trail passes the site of the 1910 Wellington avalanche, where interpretive signs explain the disaster and its aftermath. The grade itself is gentle and the walking is easy. Go in summer or early autumn; the trail can be muddy in spring and the area gets heavy snow in winter. The historical context makes this more than a hike — it's a walk through one of the darker chapters of American railroad history.

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A story
On 1 March 1910, two Great Northern Railway passenger trains stalled in a blizzard near Wellington (now Scenic), Washington. An avalanche swept both trains — and nearly 100 people — into the valley below. It remains the deadliest avalanche in US history. The trains were buried and abandoned; train debris can still be found in the ravine, slowly being reclaimed by the forest.