Love this hike due to short length & relatively flat.  Never crowded, has 2 different parking areas, and pit toilets at one of them.  The scenic mountains were visible above the lake.  We didn’t take the short extra trail to the river this time, but we have in the past.
Only problem was getting there by car. The directions say to stay right at a fork in the road at 2.1 miles.  The only fork was earlier on the road where you head to Mailbox Peak Trailhead which we took, but ended up at the intersection back with SE Middle Fork Road.  That I believe was the 2.1 mile mark where there supposedly is a fork in road, but taking a right there puts you on a private road.  So we stayed on main road and eventually got to correct trailhead.  There are no signs to Oxbow Loop trail until you arrive at the trailhead.

Hiked with our two young kids and dog. Very gentle easy trail. Best viewpoint was between the large parking lot and the small parking lot. Some fall foliage and maple leaves covering the trail. Would definitely take the kids on this trail again! 

Did this as a lazy Sunday family hike. It is nice if you are looking for a relatively short, flat hike that has some scenery, but not too crowded. We parked at the second parking area you come to where the bathrooms are and took the connector trail over. I would recommend this way because there is a great overlook off to the side of this trail of the Middle Fork and Russian Butte, although the clouds mostly covered Russian Butte on this day. Even with the connector, it was only 2.1 miles with 118 ft elevation gain. About 1/3 of the way through the loop there is a great river access spot with a lot of room for folks to spread out and enjoy the river. There is a big sturdy bridge over the edge of the lake as you make your way around. There are some great view points of the lake as well. Along this part of the trail is one of the largest Western Redcedar stumps I had ever seen. We counted 9 different trees growing out of it. We saw some ripe blackberries along the trail, but these had to be among the last of the season. The last part of the loop before getting back to the first parking area we saw dozens of tiny little frogs on the trail (smaller than a dime!), so be careful through here that you don't step on any. There are also some fall colors and leaves falling, but mostly the leaves were green and still on the trees. 

The moss, big trees, river and lake views, mushrooms, berries, fall colors, and frogs made this a pretty great short dreary day hike. 

Nice little Hike among trees with a some overlooks of river. Crossing over three stretches of still water we were gang attacked by mosquitoes.

Trail was in good condition. Some over grown bushes leading to narrow spots. Saw tons and tons of little frogs and a few snakes. Bugs were awful - wear bug spray and keep moving!