Hit the trailhead at 6:30am. Dry trail and even the birds were very quiet on our way up. Took us about an hour to reach the top. What a view. This was our first time and it was clear and beautiful. About 45 mins down and with .25 miles left to reach our car we finally passed some fellow hikers.
The drive up was definitely an adventure but I have an older 4x4 truck with plenty of clearance and it did great. I would not try this in a Subaru, rav4 or any other lower stance suv.

We made the trip up as an after-work hike and thus didn’t even start until around 4:30pm. Took us roughly 2 hours to the top (I’m decently out of shape and they are not lying about the rapid elevation gain) and less than an hour coming down.

Most of the reviews here are going to mention the road conditions. I concur. I was driving a Hyundai Sonata and we nearly got stuck on the hairpin turn that everyone is talking about. Lots of overturned and exposed rocks, ruts, and water erosion at that turn. There are several spots on the road up that are heavily covered in potholes or have enough erosion where I would not attempt again without a higher clearance vehicle. Right before the pavement ends (around the water treatment facility) there are orange cones with parking warnings on them. I guess they’re to keep people from blocking the road?

The actual hike is gorgeous. For the in-shape hiker, it’s definitely a very quick elevation gain, but not unreasonable for a day hike. The reward is a pretty short round-trip distance with stunning views at the summit. There’s also a little surprise at the summit if you’re observant enough.

Bugs were not terrible, but we put on DEET anyway as the mosquitoes were definitely out! The trail is muddy in places near reaching the tree line and there are a few blow-downs with one noticeably large tree you have to duck under. Other than that, the trail is in excellent condition. Great hike for any time of day—I just wouldn’t recommend being anywhere on that forest road after/near dark and would strongly advise a high clearance vehicle, especially if snow is present on the roadway.

Would have loved to have hiked this, but the road up to the trail was in real rough condition, as many have noted. It’s hard to see in the photo but the potholes at the hair pin turn are indeed awful, and I didn’t trust my sedan to make it over. Even in an SUV, I’d be nervous ruining a tire on this road. At least there was space to turn my car around here without reversing down the mountain. 

The views from Catherine are the nicest you’ll get from a 1.5-mile hike. Butterflies and flowers and all. But the 1,330 feet elevation gain over that distance means you’ll have to work for it. This trail is an almost nonstop uphill slog and it felt like we stumbled all the way to the top. But it is so well worth it. 

Tip 1: Just before you summit, you’ll have the option of two routes to the top. Straight ahead is a rocky, rooty, straight-up path that you’ll have to climb on hands and knees with cables to assist. Or on the right, a much easier (though still steep) option. Veer right. 

Tip 2: The 4 miles to the trailhead are pretty rough. But if you’re driving an SUV, keep going beyond the rocky bend in FR 9070, a mile or so from the trailhead, where many people appear to stop and park. That’s about the worse the road gets and an suv will give you plenty of clearance to make it all the way. 

Got to trail head at 9:20 am with my 12 year old son. Road just past the hairpin turn has a bad section of rocks and deep ruts. There are a couple of more up the road. A low riding sedan may want to park here as not to bottom out.

Trail is in great condition. It is steep but short, 1.5 miles up with 1300 ft elevation gain. Its a good one for kids as it is not so long with the elevation gain and there are numerous views along the way to keep them interested.

Mostly cloudy morning with a few sun breaks, so we got some nice views. We  even saw the top of Mt. Rainier for a instant . You could see some hikers with the binoculars going up and on top of Silver Peak which was cool.

We shared the summit with a couple  groups of nice people whom we all passed around our cameras for some good summit photos. When we finished our hike we even gave a couple who were on the summit with us a ride down to the hairpin turn as they parked there in their sedan. We finished our hike a little before noon. Fun hike!!