The new Garfield Ledges Trail is now open after a two year construction project by Mountains to Sound Greenway and the Forest Service up the Middle Fork Valley. This one mile trail gains about 600' in elevation. To make my hike a little longer I began from the Gateway Bridge parking lot about 1/2 mile away from the trailhead for Garfield Ledges. This way your legs get warmed up before starting up the hill to the ledges. The first section of the trail is covered in crushed rock, then turns to dirt. I hiked up through the second growth forest with a carpet of green moss. To get up through a rock area the trail builders put in four sets of wood and dirt stairs. At the top of the last stairs is a short walk out right to the lower ledge with a view. The trail continues up hill where it crossed over the old trail to upper ledge. I hiked the old trail 2 1/2 year ago. It was much steeper then the new one. Further up I walked between two old cedar stumps and got to the last switchback which had rock walls and poles to hold the trail in place. The trail then went through really rocky soil which would have been hard for the trail builders. At the upper ledge a flat spot had been build with a gabion wall holding up the dirt. A gabion wall is a wall built out of wire baskets filled with rocks. There are a few large rocks that can be used as seats. No benches or picnic tables. A sign at the ledge warns of not falling and says, "Keep Back". It is a long drop down. Some areas of the trail needed blasting when built.

I got to the upper ledge in time for lunch. The clouds were blowing in and out over the mountains in the area. It did open up so I could see the Taylor River far below and part way down the Middle Fork Valley. The sun even came out for a short time and no rain. After eating I headed back down with out seeing any other hikers. Probably will be more once the word gets out that the trail is now open. There were a few ribbons tied to bushes for future drainage work. The was one spot with clay soil that may need some crushed rock. 

There is a rest room at the trailhead where the trail takes off behind the building in the Taylor River parking lot. George

National Public Lands Day work party with Mountain to Sound  Greenway, WTA, US National Forest and other organizations.  Stairs have been put in and a nice switchback in an area where there was originally a climbing rope at the last work party I attended in May. Today is the soft opening for this trail but work is still going on to address some drainage issues. Please respect the trail signage.  The views at the ledges are spectacular.

Disclaimer: Please do not use the new trail until it opens in 2019, there is signage and exposed drainage structure.

The old approach is similar to Mailbox before the trail was eroded, and replaced with a winding road. A few blowdowns were moved off trail. The trail is very well defined. Lots of moss; I can't wait for the new trail. 

Views on the upper ledge were amazing 210*+ panorama, while the lower ledge was disappointing.

Hiked to the ledge with my two dogs today.  The first 0.6 miles is mostly done (still needs some mineral soil capping in spots).  There are 3 or 4 HORRIBLE spots that still need lots of work.   Admittedly, all these were above the "trail closed beyond this point" sign.   These spot are quite treacherous, and I should have paid attention to the sign.  Total distance of the trail to the ledge was 0.95 miles.   Seriously,  the upper 0.4 miles is a scramble in spots - not good for kids or dogs yet.

We needed a short hike with few people (and more importantly dogs) to walk our young puppy for her second trip. The Garfield Ledges trail isn't done yet, but is open up to a clearly marked sign. There are traces of the old trail through the moss, but the new trail will be like many of the other high-capacity trails being built off the Middle Fork. When it's done it'll provide great access to a killer view of the valley (assuming the trail ends where the old trail did).

(The link is from a 2011 trip up the old trail.)