We reserved tickets for the Eagle Interpretive Center's guided walk and started the trail with the Center's volunteers telling us about the eagle and salmon ecology and life cycles. Information about the plants and local history were also included. Highly recommended. Hope that next year the Eagle Festival will happen (canceled this year due to pandemic). Many thanks to the volunteers that keep the Interpretive Center going!

After the guided walk, we continued westward on the trail until reaching our turning around point at about 1-3/4 miles where the trail was severely eroded and precariously close to falling down the river bank.  Elsewhere along the trail there were several open areas where we searched with our binoculars for eagles and made several sightings. The trail has some big muddy puddles of 2-3 steps across and mucky areas, as well. Be prepared with waterproof footwear.

This was a wonderful, mellow riverside hike to do on a sunny December day.  With relative solitude, the sounds of the river, the strands of lichen and moss hanging from the alders, maples and cedars, this was a very peaceful place to be.  That being said, this trail does have its' challenges.

I arrived at the Howard Miller Steelhead Park around 9:30.  It's right off of Hwy 530 near the Hwy 20 junction and is easy to find.  I parked at the day use area near the entrance.  For day use, it's not necessary to pay the $5 fee according to the ranger.  The Skagit-Sauk reach trailhead begins at the far end of the campground, so getting there involves a 10-15 minute walk through the park from the day use parking area. 

The trail starts out on soft, mowed grass with a view of Sauk Mountain.  Soon it enters the riparian woods and gets a little muddier, crossing a few streams.  Then the trail gets close to the river, which was my favorite part.  There was ample sunlight and wide views across the Skagit-Sauk confluence and to the forested mountains beyond. 

About two miles in, the trail becomes narrow and overgrown.  The river has cut a swift channel that is eating into the bank, and there a few places where the trail is barely hanging on.  I am concerned that high water may cause erosion that makes this section impassible at some point in the near future.  It's manageable to hike, but I would advise going slow and being cautious where you step.

At 2.5 miles from the trailhead, the trail ends and meets an old road.  There is a spur trail to the left that goes down to a gravel bar on the river.  This was a high point of the hike for me, sitting on the gravel bar, enjoying the views upriver to the snow-covered peaks of the North Cascades and soaking up the sun.  Highly recommend this side trip.

I ended up hiking about a mile down the old road.  It's a pleasant enough stroll through maples with plenty of sunshine, but not really eventful.  I plan to return to hike this trail in a few months (hoping it won't be washed away), and I will skip this section and head to Rockport State Park next door, which is a great combination for those with the energy and time.  It's a long-ish drive from Seattle (about an hour 45 mins), so I made a day out of it and hiked the Evergreen Loop at Rockport State Park next.  I did a separate trip report for that.

Total round trip mileage on AllTrails from the parking area to my turn around point on the old road was 7.4 miles, with negligible elevation gain.  

Hiked this yesterday and it proved to be a gorgeous hike. The forest is very lush and hanging old man's beard is abundant. The trail starts by the river at the tail end of the RV park. It follows the river and you get views of Glacier and surroundings. About 2 miles in, there is a little unmarked spur that takes you to the river. There is a pretty rocky beach there, where you can eat lunch and have a dip in the water. Nice views. Most of the hike is in the woods and very secluded. Only saw 2 other people.

I read a trip report confirming this trail was open, so I decided to be spontaneous. You have to park in the day use area, but it's not far to walk through the closed campground to the trailhead. I saw 3 people total. You can find more info and pics at slowesthiker.com. (Link included below)

Soaringeagle an I just had to get out, so we decided to take a drive and possible a hike, in the North Cascades. We planned ahead, picnic lunch, hand sanitizer, and 'business bag' so we would not have to stop anywhere. We first drove up Hwy 20. It is closed and guarded west of Newhalem which we knew, we wanted some scenery as far as we could go. After our little drive, we stopped at the park. The restrooms, campground and picnic area are all closed, but we got permission from the ranger to hike the trails, they are open. The trail starts at the far end of the campground, there is a large overhead sign that says Trailhead. The path is a moved swath thru a large field with a great view of Sauk Mtn and some interpretive signs along the way. When you get to the signed fork go to the left for a nice bench and view of the Skagit River. Then take the right fork and go meet the Sauk/Skagit Reach trail. That starts after you cross a wetland on a nice plank bridge. Take a left on the old road turned trail. Follow about the river on this wide path, perfect for what we need now. There are several expansive views of the river with the North Cascades in the distance. There are a few blowdowns that are easy to get around. The trail does narrow down past the blowdowns, not good for that 6'. The trickiest part of the trail is about 2 miles in where there is an old washout that has to be climbed over. After that the trail is very narrow and sluffing away down the river bank. Once we met up with an old road coming down the hill, the trail is more in the woods and away from the river. The side of the trail was carpeted with our native bleeding hearts, just beautiful!  Here we saw a large pile of bear scat, they are out!! We had hiked about 3 miles in, so we ate our brownies and turned around.  We had a great day in the woods, we stayed safe and kept others safe by not stopping anywhere and saw only one runner on our way out. Just be aware if you drive up here there are NO potty stops ANYWHERE along here, it's all facilitrees practice LNT