Kestner Homestead Trail, Olympic National Park, Washington

2013.09.08

We stopped at the ranger station on the north side for another trail.  We initially intended to walk the half-mile Maple Glade Loop, but about halfway through, decided to branch off to the 1.3-mile Kestner Homestead Trail.  Both are flat and well-maintained.  As the name of the shorter trail indicates, this area added hardwoods to the usual conifers, giving a somewhat different feel from the trails on the south side of the lake.

Kestner Homestead Trail, Olympic National Park, Washington
Kestner Homestead Trail, Olympic National Park, Washington
Kestner Homestead Trail, Olympic National Park, Washington
Kestner Homestead Trail, Olympic National Park, Washington
Kestner Homestead Trail, Olympic National Park, Washington
Kestner Homestead Trail, Olympic National Park, Washington

At length we came out of the woods to the cleared homestead.  The first white settler in Quinault Valley was Alfred Noyes, who built a cabin in 1888.  Anton Kestner filed his land claim in 1889 or 1891 (sources vary), and his two sons arrived in 1892.  The park service is slowly restoring the homestead as an interpretive center. 

Kestner Homestead Trail, Olympic National Park, Washington
Kestner Homestead Trail, Olympic National Park, Washington
Kestner Homestead Trail, Olympic National Park, Washington
Kestner Homestead Trail, Olympic National Park, Washington
Kestner Homestead Trail, Olympic National Park, Washington
Kestner Homestead Trail, Olympic National Park, Washington