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Cougar Springs/Hole in the Rock
Cle Elum,
Washington
(Kittitas County)
Last Updated:
11/18/2021
Trail Information
Highlights
Cougar Springs Trail, AKA "Hole in the Rock", is the trail that most people flock to once in the Liberty trails system. Everyone wants that Iconic shot of their vehicle up on the rock overhanging the valley 600 feet below. A relatively easy trail for most vehicles, although some tight turns and squeezes keep the bigger rigs away, a narrow axle vehicle with high clearance will have no trouble navigating this trail. Use this trail as a shortcut to get to Lions Rock for a sunset, (another epic photo opportunity), or take this trail to enjoy the scenery at the top of some of the most beautiful ridges in the Eastern Cascades and the Cle Elum Ranger District
Trail Difficulty and Assessment
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Trail Reviews
Open
Rated
5/5
Visited: 10/28/2022
Difficulty Accuracy:
Spot On
10/29/22 - went backwards from 8-1. Light snow on the highest part and a little muddy but still in good shape passable with care. Fallen tree on trail between 3-4. Easy enough to go around through the brush.
Seasonal Closure
Visited: 11/18/2021
This trail is closed for the season! See you in 2022!
Open
Visited: 06/23/2020
Fun road. Couple mud spots, lots of loose rock and dusty. Open all the way through.
Open
Rated
5/5
Visited: 10/06/2018
Very beautiful trail. Not too difficult. In my view fortune creek is even more demanding...
The commends around wet ground is spot on. When I visited, there was fresh snow on the ground and it was raining for 1-2 days before. At some point, the surface became slick like ice. I could not make the hill on a stock GC Trailhawk. Tires had zero grip and Jeep was sliding backwards. On dry ground, should not have any issues.
Open
Rated
5/5
Visited: 06/23/2018
Did Hole in the Rock on last Saturday finally. We play up in this area a lot and for some reason I have never run this trail. We were up a couple weeks ago and thought about it but there was a large group of jeeps just starting it so we decided to put it off. This week we had it to ourselves and knocked it out in a little under an hour. We did the trail in a Tahoe with a 8" lift and 35" tires, Ford F250 Light Duty (basically a F150 with heavy duty axles and diffs) with a 4" lift and 35" tires. and a Ford explorer Sport trac with a couple inches of lift. As noted in the description above, there is one section in the trail that is tight because of two trees. We were all able to get through it though. It was very tight, even with mirrors folded, but careful driving gets you through.
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