We like to hike the section of the Lewis River Trail downstream of the falls for solitude, big trees, fungi and fall foliage.

We start our hike at the trailhead on Forest Road 9039. Turn off Forest Road 90 and drive down hill about .75 mile to a single lane bridge across the Lewis River. A large parking area is located on the south side of the bridge. Park here and walk across the bridge to the trailhead on the north bank of the river.

The first .75 mile of the hike consists of rolling ups and downs along the side of a steep ridge above the river. The trail then descends to river level, crosses a small seasonal creek on cinder blocks installed by the mountain bikers, and enters a large, flat bench above the river.

The next mile is a delightful meander through a narrow band of old-growth Douglas-fir and western red-cedar trees that have never been logged. This is typical west-Cascades rain forest with lichens and moss covering every surface and the forest understory deep in ferns. We stopped often to admire the fungi along the trail, mainly Lobster Mushrooms on this hike, but also others like Angel Wings and Dyer's Polypore and the poisonous Scaly Pholiota.

Those with sharp eyes will notice where loggers long ago cut trees down to and sometimes across the trail. The tell-tale signs are the old stumps and the lack of really large trees.

At the end of the mile, the trail veers away from the river and climbs above and away from cliffs dropping to the river. This traverse extends for about .25 mile.

At the 2-mile point, the trail descends to river level and passes several nice riverside campsites that offer good lunch spots.

The trail continues on, passing not only old-growth conifers but also some really large Big-leaf Maple and Black Cottonwood trees. The trail also passes old Western Red-Cedar stumps of trees that were cut long ago to made into the cedar bolts that give Bolt Camp its name.

At about 2.5 miles, reach the historic 3-sided Bolt Camp Shelter, which makes a good turnaround point.

The trail continues fairly level along the river for another approximately .25 mile before it ascends steeply to climb to the top of cliffs lining the river and then goes onward to the Crab Creek Bridge trailhead in about another 8 miles.

This was my first time on this trail and I loved it! The water is so clean and clear, and cold. The falls are beautiful. The trail is mostly in great condition. There is an area where vegetation is overgrown a bit, but manageable, even in shorts. There is a large tree down that you need to be able to get over. Looks like they're working on getting it moved. There are spots where the trail is a bit eroded, but to be expected when hiking outdoors in the PNW.

We parked at the Crab Creek "lot" and walked all the way to the top of the Upper Falls. We logged about 9.5 miles. I think the differing mileage for this trail is because there is a detour in between Lower and Middle Falls. The trail is closed and you need to walk toward the road, to a parking lot and return to the main trail. Signage makes it easy to navigate. We met a man who wondered why we were at the parking lot, and said the trail used to follow the river the whole way, but it is now blocked off - hence, I'm guessing, the added mileage. We found this trail to be pretty easy, not a huge elevation gain and plenty of flat travel. Our Chihuahua mix logged over 8 miles!

We drove through Carson to get to this trail. I found the road to be pretty decent considering the remoteness. I was expecting worse based on other reviews, but it's not so bad. Go slow and watch for dips in the road. Get your parking pass on recreation.gov and go enjoy!

The trail was great! Some repair and narrow washouts, and some steep spots, but passable! Forest Road 90 heading east (from Cougar) has a lot of pavement-to-gravel transitions that start and end with a big bump, like a half-curb. If you have a sedan, it is tough and slow-going. We bottomed out on one. Pretty rough. Then just a few miles before the entrance to the trailhead, there is a series of up and down gravel hills that were extremely steep and challenging to navigate. Again, passable in a car without 4wd or high clearance, but very challenging (and the 3 other experienced adults with me agreed). These gravel hills require enough speed to get up but are so rough that you can't go too fast and the view of oncoming traffic is super limited. This is so significant that I was honestly surprised it wasn't really mentioned much in trip reports!  

Back in June I hiked Lewis River and found lots of trees blown down across the trail, making the hike much more difficult.   But now the blow down trees are cleared (THANK YOU WTA!!!) and the trail is in good shape.  
My hike here starts at the upper falls parking lot, which now requires a $2 day parking permit you can get at recreation.gov (https://www.recreation.gov/)
From there I hike thru to lower falls campground and then head back.  
Four waterfalls, and a great trail thru patches of old growth, poplar groves, lots of cedar and fir, and a great display of ferns as well.  This is a very beautiful hike!  
The lower campground was full, but the trail was not crowded-  I met maybe a dozen people on the 8 mile out and back trip.  
Road conditions from Trout Lake via FR88 to FR90 are OK for passenger vehicles, but beware of patches of gravel, some potholes and treacherous dips.   Slower is better here I think.  

We hiked the Lewis River Trail from the west trailhead at FR 9039 upstream to the Bolt Camp Shelter and back for about 5 miles round trip.

The trail was in great shape and it has been logged out for the season. On a weekday we encountered one family group and one solo hiker so we enjoyed excellent solitude.

I always love this hike among big trees and lush green undergrowth with various wildflowers blooming along the way.