Took my 11 year old and my 11 month old on this easy hike. I actually planned to do Gnome trail in Maple Valley and then Franklin Ghost Town and end the day at Pinnacle Peak but ended up with only Franklin Ghost Town 😅.

A chill hike with remnants from the old mining town. We saw the coal cart, the mining shaft (fenced), and the cemetery. There'a section of the trail that was full of wild Daffodil and Periwinkles. On a clear day, you could see Mount Rainier, but she decided to play peekaboo that day!

The best part were the falls and the green river gorge which were only a short hike away from the parking lot (there's a marker that says river trail on the tree).

Looking at the map and some other hikers' pictures, there's a suspension bridge approx 1 mile from the cemetery. We did not go there though. 

It's a great little hike if you happen to be in Black Diamond area. If you're heading south, I'd recommend to add another short hike in the area to make the trip worthwhile.

Parking costs $5.00 and it's an honesty box system.

Gorgeous day for a hike! Went at 10 / 10:30 on a Saturday. There were maybe 15 to 20 cars in the trailhead, but I think we passed fewer than 10 groups all together on the trail. Lots of families and dogs.

Today we went to visit the rebuilt Mt. Peak Fire Lookout tower south of Enumclaw and the Franklin Ghost Town on the Green River.  Franklin Ghost Town was the second half of our day. We pulled in the private parking area at 12:40.  It looks like this area at one time had future plans that were never realized.  The entire pothole filled parking area was ringed by established redwood and sequoia trees that were at least 30 years old.  There are no type of facilities of any time here so plan ahead. We paid our 5$ parking fee and started out to find the Franklin ghost Town ruins.  Several side spurs lead down to the Green river in the first couple hundred yards but we did not check those out.  We hiked out to the cemetery and spent most of our time looking at 130 year old headstones mostly taken over by nature.  Thank you to whoever has tried to restore this area and unearth many of the lost markers.  We also explored the remains of the overhead coal rail line tracks.  We already decided that next time we hike here will be for the entire day.  There are many more areas to explore: hiking down to the bottom of the gorge and following the spur north up toward the old homes town site.  A red tail hawk was soaring over the river in our view for over 5 minutes. Deer and Elk scat was everywhere but no sightings. My AllTrails App showed over 7 miles of trails.  We got back to the TH just before 3:00.  Another fantastic day to be out in nature with friends.

Along with the Ghost Town trail I recommend the river trail nearby.  There are several waterfalls, some of which are not there in the summer months.

We spotted a small black bear on the trail leading up to the mining thing. Not the one going up to the main shaft and graveyard but the other side of the Y. It was fluffy. Was definitely not expecting to see a beer on the trail.

we went down to the river spot it was a little of a ground was so beautiful. Then we hiked up to the cemetery and old town. Lots of wildlife we saw some snakes and lots of cute birds. Including a few goldfinches.