A quiet trail for an outing. The only boot prints in and out were mine. The sound of the river faded a little and became louder as the trail wound through the forest of mostly cedar, Douglas fir and maples. The trail is in very good condition with a little snow, slush and mud here and there, mostly as you get nearer Black Oak Creek. No blow-downs.

I stopped at the overlook with the best view of the river and mountains. You need to be wary of getting to close to the edge of the bank because you can't see how far back it is undercut. From there I continued on to the footbridge at Black Oak Creek. The descent to the creek was where the most snow was, and that was only about three inches not slippery. No need for extra traction the whole trail.

The Mountain Loop Highway had some snow and slush starting about a half mile before the turn off onto NF-22. The bridge over the Sauk more snow and you would want to slow down before going across. There was snow on most of FR-22 to the trailhead. The only section that could be a challenge for rear wheel drive would be somewhat steep areas. There lots of potholes-the worst part is going past the boat launch. I would recommend bypassing the road and going through the parking lot. The restrooms at the boat launch are open.

We decided this day to drive the Mountain Loop Highway and include some hikes on what turned out as a gorgeous day, perhaps the last truly nice day of the season. The trailhead parking is essentially a very wide turnout off the narrow unpaved forest road that climbs up about a mile from the MLH. The road is fine for any car, just narrow in places. The trailhead is well marked with a big sign with rules and information posted on it. No restroom facilities at the trailhead.

We were the only car parked at the trailhead. We hiked about two miles up the trail to where the trail switchbacks then turned around. The trail we traveled was gentle with no appreciable climbs or descents. It's a nice walk through forest. There was one good view point near the start, but don't step too close to the edge as it's undercut in places as the river down below continues to erode the bank. Vegetation is encroaching along some short stretches. A ribbon tied to a branch warned of a hornet nest. We didn't see any hornets. We saw some piles of bear poop at the switchback. The fall colors were out and mushrooms were coming up. The only person we encountered was a trail runner who passed us going up and then coming back.

When I arrived at the parking area there was one vehicle just leaving and after that I didn't see anyone else. If you are looking for a quiet place to hike on a weekend, this is it. I hiked with Sykes the dog but he didn't make any noise but he does weird me out when he stops on the trail and stares off into the forest as though there is something out there.

The trail starts out through a forest of small deciduous trees and then into Douglas fir and cedars along with stumps left over from what appears to be a first cutting. The trail wanders away from the White Chuck River and then moves in close and high in about twenty minutes to a nice viewpoint that takes in mountains and the river looking northeast. The north side of the river has some nice deciduous foliage with color while the south side is in the shadows. This area also has a lot of pumice from a Glacier Peak's many  eruptions. We went on to Black Oak Creek where Sykes filled his tank and put a piece of pumice in the water and watched it float around even after it had absorbed some of the water.

We continued on over the foot bridge where the trail  goes through a sort of meadow and small tree mix. It showed signs of brushing not too long ago. We turned around where we encountered the long gain up around a soft ridge.

On the way back after going back over the bridge I noticed that we had gone past a large hornet nest about five feet off the trail. It wasn't noticeable coming in.

There are no facilities at the trailhead except a kiosk informational board but the is a vault toilet at the parking lot where the boat ramp is at near the confluence of the White Chuck and Sauk River is. The road is in good condition except for the section that goes past the boat ramp parking. Any vehicle can make it to the trailhead. 

Trailhead is signposted and easy to spot and park (we were the only car parked there in the afternoon). No toilets however the boat launch at the turnoff from the Mountain Loop highway has two.
The Trail was quite nice to the bridge - about 1.2 miles - with a good viewpoint at about .5 or so. You need to walk a few feet off the trail for the view of the river. 
After the bridge it became increasingly brushy and we turned around about a 1/4 mile later when it reached shoulder height. I knew brush was expected but it was just too hot for long sleeves and pants on this day. Look forward to coming back another time.
The section to the bridge would be good with kids and you can combine it with a stop at the boat launch which has a fairly decent beach. This trail is close to the Old Sauk trail -- another good one for kids or to combine for more miles.

We were the only hikers on this trail today. I hiked this back in April and it was lovely! As stated in the previous trip report, the trail is now badly overgrown in many places. Short pants did not provide enough cover. The overgrown parts come and go. At about 3.5 miles, facing another long stretch of stickers and brush, we had had enough and turned around. 

The trail was almost completely in shade. Non-brushy parts were beautiful. On the way out about 1/2 mile from the car, we took a long break on a mossy bench. I can't believe I didn't take a picture. It was so pretty, cool, breezy, and tranquil. We returned to a very hot car and stopped at Oso to tour the memorial on the way back.

(Toilets shortly before the TH are open and stinky and not stocked.)