I used the last trip reporters recommendation of parking at the gate 1 mile from the 410 turnoff without blocking the gate.  Much easier to access the river trail from here than parking at the main trail lot and walking the rim trail to the river trail.

This was more of a short mid day walk than a hike. The first mile is walking downhill on a service road. At about one mile, a trail along the river starts.

I wore shorts due to the temps in the high 70's.  The only warning is to watch for the dried, cut up thistles at about 1.5 miles into the trail.  Due to my legs getting cut up by the dried thistles, it was a short 3 mi rt.  I saw two other individuals each with their dogs.

The River trail can be reached by either by parking at the main gravel lot and hiking two miles along the rim trail, or parking at the yellow gate just before the end of the road (maybe one mile from the parking lot). The River trail descends down a wide road until it reaches the flood plains of the White River. Not the most scenic of places. The ground is torn up and very uneven. The trail eventually passes through a forest grove and reaches Scatter Creek, which may be crossable, but the area is washed out and I am not sure of the condition of the trail past it. The creek itself is nice, but the landscape is very torn up. This was our first time doing the river trail, and possibly the last. We prefer the Rim trail. Sadly the Vista trail is still closed due to logging debris.

The Mud mountain river trail starts at the intersections of the river/rim/ridge trails, it does not start at the main car park as described in the WTA trail description. Instead you drive south from the 410, 1 mile on SE Mud Mountain Road, then the first yellow gate on your left, it will say river trail on a notice. Park here without blocking the gate.

To find the correct location, the map and names of the trails, search for "Mud Mountain Dam Park US Army Corps of Engineers" on a web search, you will find a downloadable image on the army mil site.

Walk straight forward, going down the hill on the gravel road. You walk down the gravel road, through a few fields that are mowed down trees and grass, surrounded by metal logs. Continue as the road turns to dirt and then a single lane path to the creek.

Warning: River Trail closed between Scatter Creek and Fish Release Site due to several washouts. I don't know how long this has been the case. The creek looks crossable if you wade it.

Total distance from the gate to the creek and back is just over 4 miles. It was different and interesting.

You can join this trail up with the Rim trail for a longer distance, the rim trail is quite fun, you park at the gravel car park, just outside the gate that blocks the main road.

This was one of the slightly more boring hikes that I've done from my "60 hikes in 60 miles book" :). It's pretty enough in parts as you hike along the banks of the White River but trees often obscure the view and you only get glimpses of the river from time to time.

While driving to the trailhead I had to park at a gate that read "Mud Mountain test site" and go in there. It eventually joins the Rim trail where you turn left and keep going. The path is pretty straightforward and no real major diversions - around 2 miles. Eventually there's another diversion towards the River trail which is a lot of gravel road (which is open only till Scatter Creek - so make sure you mark this on Google Maps or whatever map you use, so you don't walk beyond that - as there's no sign when you actually get to Scatter Creek.

It opens up into this huge lake bed with these big steel columns joined together with chains to apparently keep lake debris from coming out. The lake bed is the "river trail" where it eventually narrows back into a single trail and goes on for a while until it ends at a little spot on the right with a few rocks and a little stream where you can rest and have a bite.

The way back is the same although I think I got lost and ended up on the gravel service road somewhere near the entrance and someone honked at me coming out :| - even though it was quite obvious I was just a lost hiker going out towards the car. Oh well - I guess I might have been accidentally trespassing.

Anyway, it's a hike to tick off the book - but not one of the more memorable ones :)

We arrived and hiked in on the Mud Mountain Dam Rim Trail.  The River Trail is closed due to landslides and is completely blocked off.  There wasn’t any timeframe or expectation on when it might open.