A nice walk on an excellent trail. No mud, standing water, roots or rocks. Views of the Snoqualmie River, Oxbow Lake, Garfield Mountain and Russian Butte. We did a counter clockwise route from the trailhead that has the restrooms. Lots of mosses, mushrooms and dappled sunshine along the trail. 

This was a beautiful and easy hike that I took with my parents who are older, casual hikers. I needed a short, flat trail that would show off fall foliage for them, and this was perfect.

The parking was a small lot that you pull over on the right for. It wasn't obviously labeled "Oxbow Loop Trail" but it's a pretty visible lot that accommodates around 8 cars by my estimation.

From the lot, there was a short path to take before the loop. On this path, there were already great views of other mountains and rivers.

85% of the hike is an easy path where there are trees covered in orange leaves, moss, and ferns to both the left and right of you, but we never felt lost or in the middle of a forest. Once we were near the lake, we caught glimpses of the lake from the path.

It started raining during the hike, so we didn't spend too much time looking around, and took brief breaks under some bigger trees.

After this, we drove ~5 minutes down the road to also check out the Russian Butte View Day Use Area for 10 minutes.

Overall, I'm really happy with how beautiful the fall views were, and also how easy it was for my parents. We only had to take one break on one small hill, which is great for them, and it took us about 70 minutes to complete. I would definitely go back for a short, flat hike.

A really nice, easy hike loop. Needed a flat, shorter hike for a friend who can’t go far. Bathroom at trailhead! Went around 10:30a on a Friday & there was plenty of parking. 

The joy of the Middle Fork Road is that there are lots of choices when it comes to trails. On my way back from Garfield Ledges, I stopped at Oxbow Lake to check it out. 

Got to the parking lot around 2 and there was plenty of parking. Vault toilets were clean and well stocked. This trail was more popular with toddlers-elementary school kids who are able to walk themselves. The spur from the lot to the loop had some great views of the river.

I decided to take the loop anti-clockwise. I passed a lot of families throughout the hike taking in the gorgeous weather. The trail is rolling with no major hills to speak of (except a short but steeper than the rest of the trail incline going up to the spur. At about 4 o’clock on the loop is a little trail that goes down to the river. The trailhead map made it seem like there were tables but I didn’t see any and sat on the rocks by the river to snack and look out at the views.

Including the break, I made it around in about 50 minutes. I could imagine this to be a good intro to trail running as well so I’ll be back!

We hiked Oxbow Loop Trail with a 9, 6 and 3-year-old. It's an easy loop, perfect for kids, with plenty of scenic views along the way. We love taking the little side trail to the river for beautiful views. The trail took us about an hour with lots of breaks and photos. We had no trouble finding parking at 3 pm on a weekend.