Summer Solstice Hike: Mailbox Peak - old trail
Sat, Jun 21
|mailbox peak trailhead
On the longest day of the year, we head up Mailbox Peak. The trail winds higher, the air thins, and the sky feels just a little closer. No rush, no record to break — just a steady climb into the wide open. At the top, the sun lingers, and so do we.
Time & Location
Jun 21, 2025, 8:00 AM
mailbox peak trailhead, Washington 98045, USA
About the Event
The idiosyncratic legand was birthed on Fourth of July weekend in 1960 when Seattle postman Carl Heine lugged a mailbox to the rocky peak. He challenged youth at the nearby Lutheran Valley Camp to summit and sign the register tucked inside the mailbox as proof of their success. The Old Trail is a product of their footsteps as they picked the most direct path upward—far from the careful planning around drainage and erosion logistics that go into trail creation today. (source: Department of Natural Resource records)
Distance and elevation: 4.8 miles and 4000 feet
Rating and route: strenuous out-and-back (must be in good physical condition)
Parking pass/fee: Discover
Gear: sturdy shoes, water, snacks, something to sit on, hiking poles, journal/sketchbook