Due to a sore left foot/ankle, we opted for biking rather than hiking this time.  We decided to tackle a section of the Willapa Hills trail we've not done before.  We started at the TH near Ceres Hill Road (Discover Pass required) and headed West to Rainbow Falls SP.  On the return we went East past the trail head for a bit to stretch the ride out a little longer, for a total of 15 miles.

The trail is basically flat from Ceres Rd to Rainbow Falls SP.  There is no coasting, you are peddling the whole time, but there are no hills to climb either so ...

There are wildflowers in bloom along the trail right now. The trail stretches through the countryside, with pastures of cows and their calves, and along the river where there are a few views of the water.  We rode through Rainbow Falls SP and had lunch at one of the shaded picnic tables (some are in the sun too :)), before returning to the trail and heading East for the return trip.

We were the only car when we arrived around 9am. There was one other car and a truck and horse trailer when we returned.  We passed a handful of other bikers and maybe a walker or two, along with the horse rider who we passed near the trailhead.

East of where we rode, construction of a bridge over Hwy 6 is underway. That will certainly be a nice addition to the trail. 

We used the Chehalis trailhead as a leg-stretcher during an I-5 road trip. This is a nice flat trail, in good repair, suitable for any use. 

The official trailhead lot requires a Discover Pass, but there is a county lot only a few hundred feet to the west, which is free to park in, and had plenty of room on a sunny Sunday afternoon.

The trailhead lot has good restrooms. 

There are some pretty river, lake, and wetland views.

We started at the Pe Ell trailhead and hikes west about 6.5 miles past Pluvius Hill. The trailhead is great. There a restroom, picnic tables and a kiosk with historical info on the trail. We parked in the spaces on the right. The long spaces on the left are for horse trails. The trail is surfaced with small gravel for most of our hike. It's compact and easy to walk on. The last mile or so got muddy. Running shoes or boots are okay. With horses, elk and deer it pays to watch your step to avoid large poop piles. The bridges were all decked and have safety rails. There are about 5 down trees. 3 cross the whole trail but are easy to walk around. The trail reaches the edge of town in about a mile. We went by a house with 4 loud and excited German shepherds. The fence was very reliable and our dog stayed relaxed. The farms and forest outside of town are nice. We got to see elk, ducks, hawks and a turkey vulture. One farm has 4 bison! We also saw a few trees cut down by beavers. They really look gnawed on!  They put up a sign that says "Do not take selfies with the fluffy cows". ;D When you see the size of the bison you'll probably agree. My favorite parts are the areas where Rock Creek comes close to the trail and we get to enjoy rock rapids. At our turn around we saw what looks like trail project activity. We might have gotten close to the end of the maintained trail. We expected to turn around at the Salmon Creek Bridge. But we never found it. Must be further than my information said. We saw 8 people, three dogs and 1 bike on a chilly, misty Thursday. 13 mi rt took about 4.5 hours.

We hike this trail often. On the section between Ceres Hill Rd and Meskill Rd (MP 10 to 12.5), there is a landslide due to the heavy rains last week. State Parks has a notice at the Ceres Hill parking lot, and I'm sure there's one at Meskill Rd.  We hiked out from Ceres Hill Rd to see how far we could get, and found the landslide near MP 12. It is, indeed, impassable, as stated on the notice. I'm sure it will be cleared as soon as possible. This trail is maintained by the staff at Rainbow Falls State Park, 360-291-3767.

P.S. You also cannot hike through from Highway 603 to Adna because State Parks is building a trail bridge over SR 6. This section will be closed for months.

Biked this trail from Adna to Rainbow Falls State Park, and back. Around 22 miles round trip – pretty much as flat as you can get. Spent 4 hours tootling along, stopping to look at the Chehalis River, and eat lunch at Rainbow Falls. We probably saw a dozen walkers and other cyclists all day long. Gorgeous fall ride.

Couple words of advice. You’d be doing a great community service to bring along a pair of hand clippers from your garden shed and cut the blackberries that occasionally reach through the air into the trail and snag bikers. I mean, there are a TON of blackberries on the ground in some sections, but I mean the ones that are actually in the air and make people bleed. Not that that happened to us. (we had first aid)

There is a lovely river access down a short trail through the woods after milepost 11 (traveling west) for a quiet break.

The final stretch of the trail as you near the state park gets pretty sketchy. We rode it on the way there, but on the way back, we took Leudinghaus Rd. and reconnected with the trail when it turns into Meskill Rd. You can’t miss it. Very well marked.

You need a Discover Pass at the trailhead in Adna. Enjoy!