Goblins Gate facts for kids
Goblins Gate is a very narrow part of the Elwha River. It's located in the state of Washington in the United States. This amazing spot is only about 20 feet (6 meters) wide! It's found inside Olympic National Park, where the Elwha River flows into a place called Rica Canyon. Goblins Gate is about 5.5 miles (8.9 kilometers) from Olympic Hot Springs.
A person named Smitty Parratt described Goblins Gate. He said the Elwha River makes a sharp turn there. Then, it rushes into a very tight opening between cliffs. He thought the rock walls looked like two big gates. They seemed to pull the river's water into them. After that, the water would rush quickly down a steep canyon.
Another person, Charles Barnes, also described Goblins Gate. He was part of an expedition in 1889-1890. He said it looked like "the throat of a monster." He also thought the rocks looked like "multitude of faces" with "tortured expressions."
History of Goblins Gate
Goblins Gate got its name from the members of the 1889–90 Seattle Press Expedition. This was a group of people exploring the Olympic Mountains.
People have built bridges across the narrow chasm of Goblins Gate twice. The first bridge was washed away. This happened during a big flood around the year 1900. The second bridge eventually became unsafe. It was removed in 1935 because it was falling apart.
River Life at Goblins Gate
Goblins Gate is part of a big effort to help the Elwha River. This project is called the Elwha Ecosystem Restoration. Scientists from Olympic National Park study the fish in the river. They look for fish like salmon and trout. They do this by swimming with snorkels along the whole Elwha River.
However, the currents inside Rica Canyon are very strong and dangerous. Because of this, Goblins Gate was one of the few places where the scientists could not do their surveys. The Grand Canyon of the Elwha was another area too dangerous to survey.
Exploring the Goblins Gate Trail
Goblins Gate is the first stop on a popular hiking trail. This trail is called the Geyser Valley trail. It follows the Elwha River above Lake Mills in Olympic National Park.
To reach Goblins Gate, you start at the Whiskey Bend trailhead. It's about 1.7 miles (2.7 kilometers) from there. After visiting Goblins Gate, the trail continues to other interesting spots. These include Krause Bottom, Humes Ranch Cabin, and Dodger Point Bridge. The trail then loops back to the main Elwha trail.
