Taking reservations now for summer and fall, 2024.

Serving nature lovers, hikers, trail runners, snowshoers, backcountry skiers, mountain bikers, birders, photographers, climbers, thru hikers, section hikers, mushroom hunters, geologists.

Contact: voice or text: 253-350-1211. Email jtmclarty@gmail.com

See “Emergency Service” below for additional information if your need for service is immediate.

We offer transportation and other support for hikers out of our base in Enumclaw, WA. Our specialty is the South Cascades, the area around Mt. Rainier and the north side of Mt. Adams. In addition, we can get you to any trailhead in the Northwest. We are beginning limited service for the North Cascades and for Mount St. Helens.

We can help with the placement of food caches for long hikes, the purchase of fuel canisters and other supplies, and adding fuel to food caches in Mt. Rainier National Park.

NOTE: Trailhead Shuttle is essentially a “mountain taxi.” It’s expensive because you’re paying city taxi rates for long miles of country driving.

 

 

 

 

 

We specialize in the neighborhoods of Mt. Rainier, Mt. Adams, Goat Rocks Wilderness, William O. Douglas Wilderness, Norse Peak Wilderness, Tatoosh Wilderness. Some of our favorite trails traverse the American Ridge and the Nelson Ridge in the William O. Douglas Wilderness. We provide service to the trailheads in the neighborhood of Walupt Lake. We serve Pacific Crest Trail section hikers. We can help you place your car or provide total transportation between the trailheads and the airport or the bus terminals in Auburn or Enumclaw or hotels in downtown Seattle. Chinook Pass, White Pass, Snoqualmie Pass as well as other PCT access points north and south.

If you arrive in Enumclaw using the public bus, we offer a slight discount on our fares.

We can get you to and from Crystal Mountain Ski Resort and Alta Crystal Resort, now known as LOGE Alta Crystal.

Let us know your need, and we will help you get there! This summer we have had a lot of calls for service to various trailheads on the Wonderland Trail.

We serve the excellent mountain biking trails off Hwy 410 between Enumclaw and Mt. Rainier National Park.

Are you looking for help positioning your car in connection with a one way hike? We can help.

Our base is Enumclaw, but we can pick you up at Seatac Airport or the bus or train stations in Auburn.

To arrange service,

253-350-1211, voice or text

jtmclarty@gmail.com.

 

Rates for Spring and Summer, 2024:  $1.11 per mile and $29 per hour beginning and ending at our office in Enumclaw. We use Google maps to determine time and distance. Each additional person is $20. The non-refundable reservation fee is $15. If the drive takes us into Mt. Rainier National Park, there is a $30 Commercial Vehicle Entry Authorization fee. If the drive includes the gravel road to Mowich Lake there is an additional $50 fee. (In 2023 I had two flats and one destroyed tire on that road, and then had to replace the ball joints and other elements in the front end of my vehicle.)

For late night or early morning pickups the mileage rates are the same, but the hourly cost is higher. From 6:30p to 9:30p the cost is $40/hour. From 9:30p to 7a the cost is $60/hour.

Sample costs: Enumclaw to Mowich: $195. Airport to Longmire: $356. (If possible, when using our services, go to the White River Ranger Station for your permits instead of Longmire. It’s cheaper because the distance is less.)

Normally, we will give you a quote before you commit to using our service.

Check out the “Scheduled Trips” tab to see trips that are currently on the calendar. You might be able to share transportation with other hikers.

You can also visit our Facebook page. Trailhead Shuttle   https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100084141830450

Emergency Service: We occasionally get calls for “emergency service” when hikes don’t go as expected. Real life examples: A bear stole your pack. Your knee starts giving you trouble. Your kid’s sleeping bag got soaked. The snow pack was more difficult than you planned for.

If you need service with less than 48 hours notice, call or text or InReach message our main number: 253-350-1211 AND our backup number 253-740-8572. If I am already in the mountains beyond cell service, a message to the second number will be forwarded to  my InReach.

There is sometimes a significant time lag between the sending of these messages and reception of the message by Trailhead Shuttle. So, don’t count on immediate response from Trailhead Shuttle, but if you need our help with transportation, most likely we will be able to pick you up at any trailhead. There may be an additional charge for emergency service. We are happy to give you a quote for the service before initiating the trip if we have two way communication.