Grove of the Patriarchs old-growth
— the small forest the river kept aside.
Not only on a wall.
“An old-growth grove on an island in the Ohanapecosh River, in the southeast corner of Mount Rainier. Douglas firs, western redcedars, and western hemlocks that have stood here for more than a thousand years. A short trail leads in from Stevens Canyon Road and crosses the river on a footbridge to reach the trees. The light underneath is green and held. People who reach it tend to talk quietly without being told to. The bridge has been closed since 2021, and access has come and gone with the river since.
Grove of the Patriarchs old-growth, on ceramic.
Each tile is finished by hand in our Knoxville studio. Artwork is slowly infused into the ceramic surface under high heat and pressure, and rests beneath a thin glossy finish. The colour lives in the surface, not on top of it.
Pick any four 4-inch tiles — National Parks you've been to, a Smokies set, the four seasons of one place. $ for a set of , cork-backed, ready to live on the table.
The place, in three passes.
The grove sits on a small island in the Ohanapecosh River, in the southeast corner of Mount Rainier National Park about 11 miles from the Stevens Canyon Entrance. The dominant trees are Douglas fir, western redcedar, and western hemlock; the oldest individuals here are estimated at more than 1,000 years, with the largest cedars exceeding 25 feet in circumference. The grove sits at roughly 2,170 feet of elevation, where mild Cascade rainfall and the river's protective channel have spared the stand from the wildfires that have shaped most of the surrounding forest over the same span.
The river runs on both sides of the island and the trail crosses it on a footbridge, which is part of why the grove feels separated from the rest of the park. Sound is muffled: the Ohanapecosh's white noise on one side, the duff floor on the other. Hikers report the same thing repeatedly, that conversation thins out within a hundred feet of the bridge. The Sahaptin name Ohanapecosh, used by the Upper Cowlitz and Yakama peoples for these eastern Rainier drainages, is most often translated as standing at the edge, which fits the trees.
The Stevens Canyon Entrance opens seasonally, generally late May through October depending on snowpack. The round-trip trail is about 1.5 miles with under 100 feet of gain, but the suspension footbridge over the Ohanapecosh was damaged by flooding in November 2021 and the crossing to the island has been closed or intermittent in seasons since. Check current conditions with Mount Rainier National Park before driving in from the Highway 12 and 410 junction at Packwood. The trail leaves from a small parking area shared with the Silver Falls Loop, just inside the Stevens Canyon Entrance.