My hiking partners and I specifically picked this hike because of the low traffic, shaded parts, and relatively easy difficulty level. Our cars were the only ones in the parking lot, and we saw only two other hikers and their dogs. We were able to do a later start 9 AM on a weekend. We turned around after a while 2.75 miles into the hike - the river trail was very dusty / dry. Hate to hike that part if it gets even a little wet. Enjoyable chill hike.

Started at the Mud Mountain - Rim Trail did the Bog Loop of the trail before it came back to the Rim Trail which then met with the River Trail. When hiking the Rim Trail before getting to where it meets with the River Trail there were some down trees/limbs that it looked like had been there only a few days prior to me showing up and/or were being taken down, as once I got to where the River and Rim Trail meet there were big construction equipment there. The River Trail is mainly a maintenance road and it has a steep hill(s) that you need to be prepared to come back up. At the start of the trail it does have signs showing where you are at and where you can go, which shows you can go through Scatter Creek all the way out to a fish release site. One piece of information that I found here and was mentioned on the bulletin board was that YES the Scatter Creek part of the River trail is impassible. I walked all the way to it to see what might be the cause to be able to share that, but once I got there I could not really find a reason other than I did not know where the other side of the trail was, even though the creek was bone dry, as I am doing this hike at the end of the summer (9/11/2022) and the weather is descent. 

The trails are dog friendly. My dog enjoyed the walk in the woods and she is only 25lbs, and did the 3.5+miles out and back. On the way back I did he the other part of the Rim Trail. Based on what I could hike I did about 7.6 miles all in total with all the different parts of the Rim, Bog, and River Trails combined.

Cherryscottage trip report was great. Only note to add, the sandy road on the river bottom was too hot for our dog and we had to turnaround before we got to the river. The other 90% was mostly shaded. 

Decided to head out on a less popular hike for Independence Day and found this lovely getaway.  I will provide some directions because we were somewhat lost when we started out on our hike, using the WTA directions and even some trip reports for help.

When you enter "Mud Mountain Dam" in Google Maps or if you use the WTA coordinates, you end up at a kid's playground with a playing field, which is great but we were looking for a hike!  We found the entrance to the Overlook, which is a short, probably tenth of a mile stroll, which ended at a viewpoint of the Mud Mountain Dam itself.

We wandered back to the car and saw someone walking on the other side of the fence who we got more directions from.  Essentially, if you park in the parking lot, if you walk out of the gate and turn right immediately, you'll see the sign for the beginning of the Rim Trail.  There are some printed maps in a box there which are helpful.

After strolling on the fairly flat and gentle grade of the Rim Trail for about 2 miles, you will meet the River Trail which is a wider grade logging road that peters out into a gravel lot and grassy fields.  About halfway down the Rim Trail, we found an old outhouse.  There are some peek-a-boo views down to the steep river canyon below, but eventually the trail will lead to an open meadow where you can access the White River itself.  Essentially, just keep hanging a right and you will reach the river, because if you turn left, you will reach Mud Mountain Road.

When we got close to the White River, we still had to carefully navigate some steep, sandy bluffs since we had a dog with us.  It was such a nice day to be out on the beach, so we're glad we made it down there.  At first, we went too far to try to find an easier access point to the beach and ran into some tall grass with a lot of pollen and my allergies kicked in hardcore.  We turned around and then went down the steep bluff to the beautiful beach below.  There are some shallow river crossings to get to the sand bar beyond which was a lovely place to run around.  All in all, a great little getaway from the loud traffic and noise for Independence Day this year.

Pretty standard Summer day. Weather and trail conditions were good. Did a little over 8 miles round-trip, out and back.