The Elk-Kings Mountain loop is approximately 11 miles with 4000 ft elevation gain. The view above is at Sunset from Kings Mountain, at above 3000 feet, and is one of the highest mountains in the Northern Oregon Coast Range. The loops can take anywhere from over 2 hours for fast trail runners, and over 5 hours for those hiking a lot of it. My favorite route is counter-clockwise. The fastest route is to park at Kings Mountain TH, run east along the Wilson River Trail to Elk Mtn TH, up Elk Mtn, across to Kings Mtn, and down Kings Mtn Trail.
From Kings Mtn TH to Elk Mtn TH, there is a runnable single track trail with a nice bridge crossing Dog Creek near the half way point. The trail up Elk Mtn is steep, technical single track with portions needing hands and feet to climb up scree and rocks. The trail from Elk Mtn to Kings Mtn above features undulating terrain with many runnable sections, many technical sections. This section is exposed and portions can be very windy and cold in the winter. The section from Kings Mtn down to the Kings Mtn TH is a great way to finish the run because of the steep but largely runnable downhills. This section goes by quickly and before you know it, you are at the bottom.
For a great all day trail run, try running the loop twice, three times, or even 4 times, as I did in July 2015. I would say take a head lamp though, because it might take 12-20 hours depending upon one's fitness and goals.
