Did loop starting onToutle Trail and back on Cinnamon Ridge Trail.Good.On ridge lots of small downed branches can obscure trail for a bit but easy to find.Over whole 14 miles encountered an equestrian and a mountain biker.No hikers.

Our group hoped for a longer day on the trail but ultimately were defeated by snow. Navigating the first 4 miles was straightforward. Although there were many trees and branches down, mostly early on, the trail is easy to follow. We lost it for a while as snow covered the final crossing of the road, and then found it again only to lose it further down in the gully. There are no discernible tree tags on this section of this trail, in lieu of potentially getting our group lost we opted to turn around. There are points of the trail that open up to views of St. Helens, Adams and Rainier. Much of the trail has tree cover, which made hiking on the hot day more bearable. Unfortunately the map at the beginning of the trail doesn't show the road crossings, which would have been helpful for navigation. 

This is a seldom hiked trail but more often used by equistrians.  The first 4 miles are steady uphill.  The top at mile 4 (4000') is an open area and the end of a forest road.  Take the trail that goes off to the right instead of going down the road.  Eventually this will take you into a saddle and then back on the ridge.  The route along the ridge after mile 4 offers some great views of surrounding mountains, alpine meadows, and old growth fir.  Because most of the trail was built on pumice it tends to erode, trench, and at times the tread is soft.  Consider this a moderate level hike for the most part and rarely are ascents more than 10-15 degrees.  At this time in early July all of the fallen trees and limbs across the trail had been cut and removed by the Back Country Horsemen a few weeks earlier.  A few weeks earlier patches of snow was seen at the 3800' level.  

No coyote scat was seen but bear and elk scat was seen beginning at mile 4.  

WTA improved the first mile of the trail in mid June 2019.  They are considering returning to work on the berms and trenching in June 2020.  

We hiked the Cinnamon Trail from the Kalama Horse Camp, for a 14.1 loop. We went counter clockwise to get the elevation gain out of the way early. We finally got views of St. Helens as the clouds broke. The return half of the loop was more scenic as it follows along a perfectly clear stream. Due to our early 6:30am start we did not see any equestrians until about 2/3 of the way thru the hike. There were no bugs to speak of although one of us did get stung by a hornet.... two of us were stung last weekend hiking the Oregon Coast, making us think that the angry bee syndrome, usually reserved for September, has come early?

Dec 28, 2004 Cinnamon Trail #204: I-5 south to Woodland, then east along Yale Lake on 503. Turn north just before Cougar on FR 8100 for eight miles. The gate to Kalama Horse Trails Camp is closed, but off road parking and a short two minute walk gets you to Cinnamon Trail 204. The path through classic PNW forest is clean and clear and not difficult. My dog Deets and I enjoyed the old growth Hemlock and fir as we climbed towards Cinnamon ridge about 1000 feet above the trail head. Near the top we enjoyed a clear, close-up view of St. Helens; the snow was about eight inches deep, but firm. The trail continues up and east, looping down to Red Rock Pass, McBride Lake on Toutle Trail 238 and back to Cinnamon trail head. But we did not like the deeping snow, so we turn north on 8122 (unmarked), dropped down to Kalama River and returned by way of Trail 238. We met three small cow elk families and left on friendly terms. The shortened loop offers a fine 4-5 hour winter day hike.