Middle Fork Teanaway River

This hike begins with fording the Middle Fork Teanaway River, which can be about a foot deep in late summer and early fall, but can run as high as 3 feet in the spring and early summer. After fording the river, the trail gently climbs up a canyon lined with rocky cliffs to the west for the first mile or so before leveling out to a lush river valley floor. In the fall, cottonwoods, maples, alder, snowberry, thimbleberry and blueberry provide abundant color.

As the trail travels up the valley, hillsides with extensive damage from the 2017 Jolly Mountain Fire emerge on both sides of the river, springing back to life with shrubs and seedling evergreens. The trail remains close to and within earshot of the river for nearly its entire duration.

The main challenge of this trail is that it crosses the river 11 times in the first 5.5 miles. (The crossings are at the trailhead, and 0.7, 0.9, 0.95, 1.3, 2.2, 3.2, 3.4, 3.5, 4.2 and 4.4 miles in.) In the late summer and early fall, one can bring water shoes or boots for the first 5 or 6 deeper crossings and then stash them along the trail. After that, it is possible to rock-hop the second half of these crossings in hiking shoes or boots and remain relatively dry (poles are helpful for this exercise).

The trail is also used by horseback riders, and consequently, fallen trees are regularly cleared.

Although this description references just the first 5.5 miles of the trail, the entire Middle Fork trail is 11 miles long one-way, and there is no specific destination at its terminus. Any length of the trail can make a reasonable turnaround point. There are ample flat and open spots suitable for a rest stop or camping along the way. At 3.6 miles, the trail intersects with the Way Creek Trail (#1235), at 7 miles it meets the Jolly Creek Trail (#1355), at 8 miles the Johnson-Medra Trail (#1383) and at trail-end at 11 miles, it bifurcates into the De Roux Spur Trail (#1392.1) and Paris Creek Trail (#1393.1), which provides access to Elsnor Mine.