Washington
Washington commonly refers to:
* Washington (state), United States
* Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States
** A metonym for the federal government of the United States
** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...
on the
Mountain Loop Highway
The Mountain Loop Highway is a highway in the U.S. state of Washington. It traverses the western section of the Cascade Range within Snohomish County. The name suggests it forms a full loop, but it only is a small portion of a loop, which is co ...
between Silverton and Darrington. It is a popular trail head for access to the old mining town of Monte Cristo and has a branch off to hike up to Gothic Basin, which is about a mile in.
The mining boom at Monte Cristo, starting in 1890, resulted in the need for access to the remote town. In 1891 a wagon road was built along the Sauk River, from the
Skagit River
The Skagit River ( ) is a river in southwestern British Columbia in Canada and northwestern Washington in the United States, approximately 150 mi (240 km) long. The river and its tributaries drain an area of 1.7 million acres (690,000& ...
to Monte Cristo. That same year it was discovered that Monte Cristo could be accessed via the South Fork
Stillaguamish River
The Stillaguamish River is a river in the northwestern region of the U.S. state of Washington. It is mainly composed of two forks, the longer North Fork Stillaguamish () and the South Fork Stillaguamish. The two forks join near Arlington. From ...
. A surveyor named J.Q. Barlow blazed a route from Silverton to Monte Cristo. Mining interests funded further work and soon a wagon road was built over Barlow Pass to join the Sauk wagon road. Later a railroad would be built over the same route.
Image:Monte_Cristo_Trail_Head.JPG, Monte Cristo trail head
File:Sign_at_barlow-pass.JPG, Road signage