Hiking Silverdaisy Mountain near Manning Park
Contents
Silverdaisy Mountain Hike Information
Difficulty: Moderate
Distance: 23.70Km
Elevation Gain: 1,280m
Highest Elevation: 2,068m
Average Gradient: 10.80%
Effort/Reward Ratio: High / High
Time Needed:
– Slow: 8 – 9 Hours
– Moderate: 6 – 8 Hours
– Fast: 5 – 6 Hours
Dogs Permitted?: Yes
Season: Year-Round
4×4 / High Clearance Required? No
Scrambling / Exposure: None
Silverdaisy Mountain Trail
Trailhead Coordinates: 49°12’21.8″N 120°59’55.1″W
Silverdaisy Mountain Overview
Silverdaisy Mountain is one of a number of summits officially located in the Skagit “donut hole”, a 5,800 hectare “hole” between Manning Provincial Park and Skagit Valley Provincial Park. The history of this donut hole began when the Skagit Valley was upgraded to a provincial park in 1996, with a portion of the Skagit watershed covered under a mineral tenure and as such unable to be included in the newly formed provincial park. As a result the donut hole formed when this area of land was left surrounded by Manning and Skagit Valley Provincial Parks.
Over the years a variety of companies held logging and mining permits within this region, as can be seen when you hike in the area, however a number of coalitions have since fought to prevent this. In 2019 logging was banned in the donut hole, and in 2022 one of the mining permit holders relinquished their mining rights for the region. The donut hole is an important wildlife sanctuary and home to hundreds of animals including birds, salmon and bears.
Due to the history of logging in the area hikers are able to hike up a logging road to almost 1,800m from a small parking lot off of the highway, Cayuse Flats. Alternatively there is another route to Silverdaisy Mountain from Sumallo Grove via the Silverdaisy Trail, however this route can often be rugged and overgrown, so the easier approach is via Cayuse Flats, and that’s the route described here.
From Cayuse Flats Silverdaisy Mountain is a year-round objective, with many people ski touring in the area thanks to the easy access and enjoyable slopes. As a hike a winter approach will be long and tiring in snow, though certainly doable in the right conditions. In the summer this is a very straightforward hike with quick travel on the logging road before gaining the ridge for the final couple of kilometers. The ridge is easy to follow and usually marked.
This hike is dog friendly and also mountain bike friendly. 80% of the hike is up a well groomed logging road which would be light work on a bike, especially on the descent. This would also be a great hike for trail running.
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Is Silverdaisy Mountain worthwhile?
Silverdaisy Mountain is a fairly “under the radar” hike. It’s somewhat known in the more committed hiking community but essentially ignored by less committed hikers due to being overshadowed by other hikes within Manning Park. Overall this is a great hike where you likely won’t see many people and the views from the top are panoramic. The hike itself admittedly is a logging road plod for the most part, but the views do get fairly nice as you climb higher.
How difficult is the hike to Silverdaisy Mountain?
Despite the fairly sizable stats this is a very approachable hike for most abilities. The average gradient isn’t very high and at no point is the hike ever very steep. It’s a consistent climb up a logging road and you’ll likely be surprised at how fast you’re able to travel on this (assuming you’re going without snow coverage).
Technically the hike is also quite straightforward since it’s mostly walking up a logging road. The last 2 kilometers or so departs from the road and works up the southeast ridge, which is also fairly mellow. The ridge is well marked in the summer and there should be a reasonably well traveled trail you can follow to the summit. Even in snow the ridge is technically simple and never that steep.
Silverdaisy Mountain Route Information
This route to Silverdaisy Mountain begins from a small parking lot off of highway 3 through Manning Park called Cayuse Flats. There is space for several cars in the parking lot, and likely overflow parking on the side of the highway if necessary. Any vehicle can access the parking.
From the parking lot you will immediately cross a bridge over the Skagit river, which is almost always gated to prevent motor vehicle access. Over the next 3 kilometers the logging road will run adjacent to highway 3 as you gradually climb through the dense forest. This section is actually still within the boundaries of Manning Park.
After around 3 kilometers of hiking the logging road will turn away from the highway as you approach Smitheram Creek Valley, where the Skagit donut hole begins and Manning Park ends. The trail will continue to be very straightforward and travel should be relatively quick and seamless. Fit hikers will be able to maintain a quick pace without needing to stop for any breaks thanks to the almost perfect gradient and very simple footing.
The trail now follows high above Smitheram Creek and continues to climb higher and higher. The views will improve as you ascend through the valley, partly thanks to the magnitude of logging on the slopes, and soon enough you’ll be able to see a few peaks, initially Claimstake Mountain and soon after Eastpoint Peak.
At around the 5.5km mark you’ll follow a few switchbacks up the logging road as the terrain steepens, passing some steep rocky cliffs in the process. Continuing on the logging road, the views will now be pretty open with Eastpoint Peak dominating the skyline and the vast Smitheran Creek Valley down below.
At around the 1,500m mark you’ll reach another switchback, ignoring the trail that continues towards Eastpoint Peak, and shortly ahead will be one more switchback. You’ll eventually pass by some unfinished structures back from the mining/logging days. Ultimately you’ll keep following the logging road to around 1,790m where it meets the Silverdaisy Trail that began from Sumallo Grove from the west of the peak, rather than the east where you came from. Make sure you don’t start following the Silverdaisy Trail down.
Both trails now converge onto the southern ridge of Silverdaisy Mountain, finally leaving the logging road and instead entering a sparse forest. There is a fairly obvious trail along the ridge, as well as some markers throughout, but even if you lose them, travel is quite straightforward, just keep following the ridge up.
As you follow the ridge the views really start to open up, with Claimstake, Hatchethead and Eastpoint dominating the foreground, and Hozomeen and Redoubt the background. Travel now is really at your discretion as the trees thin out the higher you ascend, with the option of sticking close to a rocky ridge. Just choose whatever route you prefer and keep an eye on your map for general direction.
Soon enough you’ll reach the summit of Silverdaisy Mountain, which is still partially treed but it’s sparse enough that it doesn’t really impede on your views too much. It wasn’t super clear where the official summit was as there were a couple of high points. I found the slightly lower summit to offer clearer views so went ahead and stuck around there. There also seems to be some sort of cairn there anyway, though to me it looked lower than the other more eastern summit.
The views from the summit are very nice, with clear views of Mount Outram, Mount Ford, Mount Dewdney and Snass Mountain to the north, Silvertip Mountain to the west, Claimstake, Eastpoint, Frosty, Redoubt and Hozomeen to the south, and Three Brothers Mountain to the east. This is a nice place to stroll around and enjoy the views, with plenty of space to sit and have lunch.
After resting up you simply head back the way you came. Adventurous parties with two cars could feasibly start this hike at Cayuse Flats and end this hike at Sumallo Grove, in which case you’d take the Silverdaisy Trail to Sumallo Grove on the way back, but I haven’t done that route so can’t comment too much on it. You could even do it with one car and hike back down Highway 3 to the Cayuse Flats trailhead if you’re so inclined.
When should I hike Silverdaisy Mountain?
Silverdaisy Mountain is a year-round objective and makes for a reasonably well trafficked ski tour in the winter. Winter travel on snowshoes would make for a long and tiring day, but in the right conditions it’s certainly feasible. I can’t say I would choose this option given how incredibly fast you can do this hike in the summer without any snow. If you want to avoid snow the best months will usually be July – October.
Top Tip
This area is prone to bear sightings, when I hiked it the entire logging road was covered in bear scat throughout, and I bumped into a black bear near one of the cutblocks. Bear spray is strongly advised for any hikes in the Skagit donut.
This is the perfect hike for anyone that likes to mountain bike up and down the majority of the trail as the logging road is well groomed and would make for easy travel. It is also a great option for trail runners who could likely run the entire hike.
You could feasibly combine Silverdaisy Mountain with another nearby objective like Eastpoint Peak or Claimstake Mountain if you want a real challenge.
