We started at the Maple Leaf trailhead near the hike-in campsites. The trail is covered in maple leaves which is so beautiful, but also slick! The trail isn't exactly difficult to follow, but the leaves don't make it easy. There is a sign marking where the Steam Donkey trail intersects the Maple Leaf trail, you actually walk across a road to it. Lots of nice creeks to see and bridges to cross. We only ran into 1 other group the entire hike.

We hiked this today with our ten month old yellow lab Izzy, It was a training hike for next year for all of us.   There was no one on the trial.   Two trees across the trail.  The ranger said that they may work on that today.  Most of the large trees were cedar and that made the hike special.  To walk through a grove and smell the cedar was really cool.   There were a few red huckleberries on a few bushes.  We did not see any chanterelle mushrooms but didn’t venture off trail. 

We started the at the Maple Valley trail head in the campground where Hikers and bicyclist can camp.  We connected with the Steam Donkey trail and ended our loop back at the campground access road.  There were plenty of signs to follow.   We ended up at the Dosewallips River by the Day Use area across the road watching the salmon spawn.   It was a great day.  Pretty easy for us as we are out of shape.  Anyone can hike this trail.

We hiked the Steam Donkey Trail - Maple Valley Trail loop described in Craig Romano's book, Day Hiking the Olympic Peninsula (#44).  It was a cool (51 degrees), and since rain was expected, we planned a short morning hike in the woods. We were camping in Dosewallips State Park, and this trail was a perfect choice.  It is a lovely walk through maturing second growth forest, with a rich understory of ferns and scattered groves of rhododendrons.  The trail meanders up and down, provides good views of the Dosewallips river valley, and crosses numerous small creeks (many of which are already dry).  All but one of the bridges were in fine shape, and several provide guard rails.  One was damaged by winter high water and was askew, but was still easy to cross.  While not wheelchair accessible, the trail is suitable for novice hikers and aside from a few puff-worthy, short uphill stretches, does not require experience, skill or endurance.  It is basically a lovely walk in the woods.  The historical aspect provided by the old railroad grade and the impoundment constructed for the steam donkey operation in the early 1900's provide a bit of extra interest.

We had hoped for a good show of rhododendrons, but most of those along the trail were not in bloom.  They also did not have buds, so seemed unlikely to bloom this year.  However, a few were in full bloom and others were just coming into bloom, so we were not too disappointed.  

Overall, this is an easy and pleasant short hike that gives a good introduction to lowland Olympic forests with a bit of history added for additional interest.   

Nice well built trail. Quiet with few hikers. Lots of bridges and boardwalks to help you avoid muddy areas. a few trees over the trail, but manageable. We started at the Maple trailhead ar the platform tents and that connects with Steam Donkey Loop to make the trail length about 3.7 miles, depending on where you park. Very enjoyable forest and stream environment.

First car at the trailhead at 8am. We started on the May Valley trail by the platform tents and looped around the Steam Donkey trail. Lots of cute bridges and creeks. We saw a few logging relics but no other hikes. Was glad we had a map so we put together a nice loop to explore the connector trails. This was a lovely hike. We also explored the ocean side with of the park and enjoyed water views with lunch. Then we took a quick side trip to Rocky Brook Falls. Nice day overall.